Two rice company promoters declared fugitive economic offenders in bank fraud case

A special court here has declared two promoters of a Delhi-based rice company as fugitive economic offenders in connection with an alleged Rs 1,200 crore bank loan fraud case against them.

The court of special judge Rajesh Malik declared Karan A Chanana, chairman and managing director of Amira Pure Foods Pvt Ltd (APFPL) and Anita Daing, the whole-time director of the said company, as offenders under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA), 2018, on Friday, according to an order.

The court also directed the confiscation of assets worth Rs 123 crore of the accused, ED officials said. Chanana is stated to be based in the UK, while Daing is located in Dubai.

The money laundering case of 2022 stems from a 2020 CBI FIR registered against APFPL, Chanana, Daing, and others for allegedly committing fraud, criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, cheating, etc. And causing wrongful loss to the tune of Rs 1,201.85 crore to the consortium of banks led by Canara Bank. Chanana is the head of the global rice brand Amira that has business in the US, UK, UAE, Germany, Mauritius and in some other countries, according to the ED.

“Both the respondents, being abroad, have refused to return to India to face criminal prosecution. They have also left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution.

“The notices of the present petition could not be served upon the respondents in spite of best efforts,” the court said.

Accordingly, it said, both the respondents are declared fugitive economic offenders (FEO) under Section 10 of the FEOA 2018. The FEOA was brought in by the Union Government with an aim of bringing to justice those people who have left India to evade the clutches of law after committing fraud with a benchmark value of at least Rs 100 crore.

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya and UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari have been declared FEOs in the past.