MUMBAI, June 10: The multi-crore CRB scam took a new turn this afternoon with its chairman Chain Roop Bhansali blaming State Bank of India officials for not taking precautionary measures in certain deals amounting to crores of rupees. Bhansali was remanded to police custody till June 24 by additional chief metropolitan magistrate S B Dhumal.Surprisingly, Bhansali's advocate Indira Bansal did not oppose the Central Bureau of Investigation's demand to grant the custody. CBI officials produced Bhansali in the court at 3 pm under a high-profile security cover. The 38-year-old CRB chairman was was brought to the city last night.Referring to the alleged Rs 58 crore SBI fraud, she argued that the bank's employees had committed the fraud and not Bhansali. The SBI employees had advised and provided all the required documents to Bhansali to carry out the transaction fraudulently, she argued.Advocate Bansal maintained that SBI - CRB's financier - treated its fixed deposits as a normal account. She also contended that SBI refused to take any undertaking from Bhansali for the money he borrowed from the bank. She alleged that the SBI issued CRB with false finance certificates. ``The SBI did not even whisper about the apparent fraud. The bank officers should also be booked for the misappropriation,'' said Bansal.In his remand application, senior CBI public prosecutor B S Raghuvanshi pleaded that Bhansali be interrogated thoroughly so that the details of the criminal conspiracy to defraud SBI could be unearthed. Only a thorough custodial interrogation of the accused could bring all the offences to light, the prosecutor submitted. The CBI prosecutor alleged that Bhansali fraudulently obtained blank fixed deposit repayment warrants from SBI for misappropriating funds while the warrants were meant to be issued only to genuine fixed deposit holders of the company, and only to the extent of Rs 25,000. Moreover, Bhansali had signed several bogus warrants for the purpose of generating funds for creation of assets for himself, the prosecutor added.The magistrate observed that the accused had committed serious economic offences involving huge amounts of public money. The present crime signifies the plundering of peoples' resources for the selfish enrichment of powerful persons, the magistrate said in his remand order.Bhansali filed another application in the court seeking permission to search all the business premises of CRB Capital Markets Limited and seize all other documents not related to the Rs 58-crore scam involving SBI. Bansal said that while Bhansali was away in Hong Kong, various CRB offices, where important documents related to deposits had been stored, were raided and sealed.``Those documents include different cheques amounting to about Rs 50 crores belonging to the depositors. These cheques and other documents proving the company's sound financial status must be handed over to the liquidator to ensure the safety of the depositors' money,'' Bansal said. The magistrate ruled that the prosecution would be permitted to search only those places which were considered essential for the crime being investigated (the Rs 58-crore scam involving the SBI). Other places should be searched by the official liquidator, the magistrate ordered. He also sanctioned Bhansali's request to allow him food from home, bedding and medicines. Bhansali is suffering from high blood pressure.Meanwhile, as the CBI is all set to interrogate Bhansali, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police is gearing up initiate action against him.Talking to The Indian Express, EOW head DCP D D Padsalgikar said the EOW will arrest him once again and produce him in the court seeking police custody.
