Passing the buck

The ingenuity of today’s con-men

In our last issue of Eastern  Panorama (July 2009) we have shown how people are cheated on the pretext of sanctioning loans. Here is yet another case where one local company in the name and style of JRT Plantations Pvt Ltd. with its head office in Upper New Colony Shillong was cheated by one firm M/s Aajay Consultant represented by its Chairman Shri Ashish Kumar Sarkar of Kolkata who has also projected himself as Managing Director of one firm based in the United Kingdom. This is the story as it stands till date:Mr  Ashish Kumar Sarkar Chairman of M/s Aajay Consultants approached M/s JRT Plantation (P) Ltd and offered a loan of Rs. 3.64 crores to them stating that M/s Aajay Consultants is dealing in the business of providing direct foreign investments  in the form of loans at very attractive rates of interest varied from 3 to 4 % per annum. M/s JRT Plantation was assured by Mr. Ashish Kumar Sarkar that a loan will be arranged to fund a rubber plantation for the plot of land of M/s JRT Plantation at Byrnihat Ri Bhoi District Meghalaya. Firstly Ashish Kumar Sarkar insisted that the Company needed to deposit 10% of the amount of the loan as commitment fee in cash and later he agreed on a bank guarantee for a sum of Rs.36.40 lakh arranged for by the Company in favour of Ashish Sarkar valid for one year to be matured on 11/4/09 with a stipulation therein that the same may be divided, negotiated, transferred and mortgaged without notice to the issuing bank.At a later stage JRT Plantations were informed by Aajay Consultants that foreign direct investment in rubber plantation will not be possible and hence they should apply for loan to fund a tea plantation. The loan sanctioned was also reduced to Rs 2.42 crores dated 31/05/08 in which an additional clause was added to the existing terms and conditions in the bank guarantee by the consent of Aajay Consultants and conducted in writing that the bank guarantee will never be presented over the counter of the issuing bank on maturity and the same will be returned to the issuing bank within 30 days before the expiry of the bank guarantee. However, they did not inform the bank about these changes. That means that M/s Aajay Consultants by their own will had confirmed that the bank guarantee will not be invoked. After accepting the bank guarantee, Aajay Consultants also handed over a cheque of Rs. 36.4 lakh as security to the plantation company.

Since Aajay Consultants could not succeed in cheating  JRT Plantation by taking cash it took the bank guarantee to Kolkata and made a similar Offer to M/s Graphique International of Kolkota and sanctioned them a loan of Rs. 2.86 crore for the modernization of their printing press and demanded a Commitment Fees for processing the so called loan from them in the form of a Demand Draft of Rs. 30.00 lakhs and on good faith, M/s Graphique International who was trapped with the nefarious ploy of Ajay Consultants handed over Rs. 30 lakhs by DD on the 25th of November 2009 as security for the commitment fee to M/s Aajay Consultants.

In order to secure the aforesaid amount of Rs.30.00 lakhs Aajay Consultants assigned and transferred the bank guarantee by executing a Transfer Deed in favour of M/s Graphique International on the 11th of November 2008 as security for the commitment fee and assured them that the loan would be released to them within 120 days.

After the elapsing of the stipulated period and before the expiry of the maturity date of the aforesaid bank guarantee, M/s Graphique International lodged a claim to the bank for payment of the bank guarantee amount of Rs. 36.40 lakhs from the bank.

When the bank guarantee was invoked by Graphique International, (who was now the beneficiary of the bank guarantee) the bank informed JRT Plantations and asked the latter to pay the amount of Rs.36.40 lakhs.

Shocked by the unprecedented demand of the bank JRT Plantation immediately filed a case in the court of law and obtained an ad-interim injunction and a stay order on the encashment of the bank guarantee. Aajay Consultants which masterminded the fraud is absconding and now, both the parties at Shillong and Kolkata are searching high and low for Ashish Kumar Sarkar.

Needless is it to mention that the commitments which were issued by Aajay Consultants in favour of JRT Plantation at Shillong and to Graphic International at Kolkata were never honoured nor have the amounts of the loans been sanctioned to them.

EP DESK