BJP's Mohit Kamboj gets interim protection in bank fraud case

BJP leader Mohit Kamboj was granted interim protection by a Mumbai session court on Wednesday in a bank fraud case against him.

BJP leader and businessman Mohit Kamboj has been granted interim protection from arrest till June 7 by the Mumbai session court in a bank fraud case against him. The MRA Marg police station had registered a case against him on May 31 alleging that he committed a fraud of Rs 52.89 crore.

The case was transferred to the Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) later. Mohit Kamboj heads KBJ Jewels (India) Pvt. Ltd, a business dealing in bullion and jewels.

The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint made by a manager of the Indian Overseas Bank. He said that Kamboj was one of the three directors of a company that took a loan of Rs 52 crore from the bank and alleged that the BJP leader used the money for a purpose other than what it was intended for.

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Advocate Rizwan Merchant, while seeking anticipatory bail for Mohit Kamboj told the bench led by Judge DL Bhagwat that the entire case had been concocted for political reasons.

Advocate Rizwan Merchant said that in 2009, Kamboj's company had availed a loan for his business. However, after the death of one of the directors, the company became a Non-Performing Asset (NPA) and Kamboj resigned from the company in 2015.

A One Time Settlement (OTS) was undertaken with the bank but the payments could not be given in time due to Covid-19 and lockdown, said Merchant. Merchant added that, despite the circumstances, preparations for the last few payments were still being made and the Indian Overseas Bank had been made aware of the situation.