Former UCO Bank official arrested in bank loan forgery case

Kolkata, May 17 (IANS) The officials of Enforcement Directorate (ED) have arrested the former chairman & managing director of Kolkata- headquartered public sector commercial bank, UCO Bank, Subodh Kumar Goel in connection with the multi- crore bank loan forgery case involving the chairman & managing director of Concast Group, an official said on Saturday.

He was arrested at New Delhi on Friday and was brought in transit remand to Kolkata on Saturday and presented at a special court in the city.

The main charges against Concast Steel are that the company took bank loans of around Rs 1,400 crore from UCO Bank and thereafter, instead of investing the money for the purposes for which the loan was taken, diverted the same to different shell companies.

The main charges against Goel is that the Concast Steel authorities did this forgery in connivance with the former chairman & managing director of UCO Bank. According to ED, Goel himself was a financial beneficiary in this entire swindling of funds.

To recall, in February this year, ED informed that their officials of the Kolkata office have provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs. 210.07 crore on January 31, 2025, owned by Sanjay Kumar Sureka, the chairman and managing director of Concast Group, the owner of Concast Steel & Private Limited.

Earlier in December last year, the ED officials escorted by the central armed forces personnel (CAPF) conducted a marathon raid and search operation at the residence of Surekha at Ballygunge in South Kolkata in connection with the bank loan forgery case.

Following that raid and search operations, cash worth Rs 2 crore, jewellery worth Rs 4.5 crore and two luxurious vehicles were seized by the ED officials from his residence. Surekha was also arrested by the Ed sleuths at that point in time.

As per ED calculation the total bank loan forgery amount, including the one with UCO Bank, ranges to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore. There were charges against Surekha of using bank accounts registered in the names of the employees and business associates of the said corporate entity to secure the loans.

--IANS

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