The difficulties of the founder of Big Bazaar increased! CBI FIR against Kishore Biyani and FRL in ₹904 crore bank scam

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against Future Retail Limited (FRL), its promoters and directors – Kishore Laxminarayan Biyani and Rakesh Gopikishan Biyani – and unidentified government officials and others. According to the FIR, by diverting funds to them, creating complex layers of transactions and manipulating financial records, the State Bank of India (SBI) had received Rs. 904.32 crore is alleged to have been defrauded. The FIR was registered by the SBI on November 4 based on a complaint dated October 9. The agency has charged these people with criminal conspiracy and cheating under the old Indian Penal Code (IPC) and has also registered a case under sections of the ‘Prevention of Corruption Act’. After this, CBI teams searched several places in Mumbai associated with the promoters and seized some documents.

When did the fraud come to light?

The matter came to light after a forensic audit conducted by BDO India LLP, covering the period from April 1, 2017 to April 30, 2022. FRL’s loan account was classified as ‘Non-Performing Asset’ (NPA) from April 26, 2021, while SBI’s ‘Fraud3’ loan account of FRL was classified as ‘Non-Performing Asset’ (NPA) on March, 2021. 2026. According to the bank’s complaint, the forensic auditor has identified 13 related entities to whom FRL has defrauded during the review period a total of Rs. 5,878.28 crore net payment was made. A total of Rs. 24,002.09 crore was paid, while Rs. 18,123.79 crore was received.

How was the fraud detected?

In the audit, nine concerned units were found to have received Rs. 1,263.68 crore in net disbursements were also disclosed, whose financial capacity and recorded income were disproportionate to the amount received. Another transaction is mentioned in the complaint, which is related to the group company ‘Syntex Trading and Agency Private Limited’. During the financial year 2020 (FY20), FRL has provided Syntax with Rs. 606.60 crore loan was given. The latter’s short-term loans and advances as on March 31, 2019 stood at Rs. 8.37 crore as on March 31, 2021 to Rs. 850.14 crore has been reached. The complaint alleges that this indicates that the funds received from FRL may have been used to make further loans and advances to entities other than the business purpose of Leggy, Ra.

These errors were also found

The forensic audit also found irregularities in FRL’s accounting records. The security deposit recorded by the company in FY19 was Rs. 1,938.35 crore in FY20 to Rs. 4,406.17 crore, while its number of stores fell from 1,511 to 1,350 during the same period. Advances given to suppliers in FY17 were Rs. 530.28 crore in FY21 to Rs. 3,089.22 crore, while during the same period the purchase was Rs. 13,212.92 crores down to Rs. 3,765.30 crores.