India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested the chairman of state-run Syndicate Bank Ltd., Sudhir Kumar Jain, on August 3, with the CBI announcing that two cases have been registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act and laws to prevent criminal conspiracy.
The CBI said its investigation is continuing, and that the cases against Jain included 11 other individuals, such as the chairman and executives of two Delhi-based companies, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The CBI didn’t name the companies, and no formal charges have been brought. The allegations against Jain and the others involve bribery in relation to delaying or deferring loan repayments to a company that was in financial difficulty.
The CBI said it recovered 5 million rupees ($82,209) allegedly being paid by a private company to the bank’s head through middlemen to get extensions on loans after the company defaulted on loan repayments.
Syndicate Bank is a midsize lender with more than 3,200 branches around India. Jain took over as chairman in July 2013.
The country’s anti-corruption drive follows the election in May of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who ran on a campaign to eradicate corruption in India.
At a public rally on Tuesday, Modi said the government is willing to take on all anti-corruption forces, political parties and its leaders in its fight to end graft. “Corruption has ruined the country. I promise that we will fight against corruption with full might,” he said.
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Julie DiMauro is the executive editor of FCPA Blog and can be reached here.
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