CBI conducts searches across four States in ₹1,109-crore bank fraud case

📌 Summary:

• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at six locations across West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand in a ₹1,109-crore bank fraud case
• The case involves alleged cheating by Gupta Power Infrastructure Ltd., which had taken various fund-based and non-fund-based financial facilities from Canara Bank
• Alleged modus operandi (as stated by the agency): (1) Manipulating the value of stocks and inflating trade receivables (2) Falsifying the company's financial statements to obtain enhanced credit facilities (3) Siphoning and diverting loan funds (4) Evergreening of accounts — thereby causing wrongful loss to the bank
• Locations searched: residential premises of four accused directors in Bhubaneswar (Odisha), the registered office in Kolkata (West Bengal), and three manufacturing units at Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar (Uttarakhand), Tiruvallur (Tamil Nadu) and Bhubaneswar

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 Internal Security — economic offences, money laundering and diversion of funds; GS3 Economy — NPAs, banking governance and credit appraisal failures.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• CBI is India's premier investigating agency, functioning under the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Ministry of Personnel; it derives powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946
• Canara Bank is a public sector bank headquartered in Bengaluru
• Evergreening refers to granting fresh loans to repay existing ones, keeping an account from being classified as an NPA

🔑 Key Term: Evergreening of loans — the practice of extending new credit to a borrower so that existing dues are repaid on paper, disguising a stressed account and delaying its classification as a non-performing asset.