Citibank scam: Charges framed against 5

GURGAON: A city court in Gurgaon has framed charges against five persons, including Shiv Raj Puri and his father Raghu Raj Puri, in the multi-crore Citibank scam. Judicial magistrate Ashok Mann charged the five accused with conspiring to cheat investors along with Puri’s mother Deeksha Puri.
Charges have been framed against Sanjay Gupta, the sacked associate VP of Hero Corporates, Gaurav Jain and Rajendra Chand besides the Puris.Deeksha has been declared a proclaimed offender.
A copy of the chargesheet, available with TOI, says there was a conspiracy to defraud investors by forging the letter purporting to be of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in September 2009. It further says all of them connived to open a bank account in Citibank for the purpose of cheating investors, and even issued forged bank receipts. The chargesheet says they got an account opened in the name of BG Financial Services operated by Sanjay Gupta and Archna Gupta besides opening another account in the name of G2S Management Consultant, which was operated by Gaurav Jain, Sanjay Gupta and one Ganpat. Another account was opened in the name of Norman Martin Broker Pvt Ltd; it was operated by Raghu Raj Puri, Rajendra Chand and Deeksha Puri to pocket their commission. The accused can face life imprisonment for the offence.
The accused have also been charged with dishonestly inducing investors — 10 of whom have been named — into delivering their property or amount. They have been accused of forging Sebi documents, bank receipts, electronic records and bank statements.
The chargesheet says Rs 405 crore was entrusted to Shiv Raj Puri in 2009-10 in his capacity as a banker and he committed criminal breach of trust. Puri had allegedly used his contacts to identify investors. They were then lured to put their money into a fake scheme he had floated in the name of Citibank.
The court while framing charges recorded that Shiv Raj Puri had committed the offence despite having the knowledge that such acts could invite life imprisonment. He, therefore, tried to destroy the evidence and give misinformation, and even tried to disappear to avoid punishment. Citibank counsel Harish Malhotra said the court has directed all the accused to appear before it on November 21. All of them are now lodged in jail.