CBI books Nagpur ordnance factory's ex-DGM in corruption case  

New Delhi, Sep 2 A former Deputy General Manager of the Ordnance Factory Ambajhari, Nagpur, and an official of a private supplier firm were booked by the CBI for "corruption" and "conspiracy" that caused a loss of lakhs of rupees to the exchequer.

Deepak Lamba, the then DGM of OFAJ, Nagpur, private company Automation Engineering and Industrial Services, Nagpur, and Mohit Tholia, proprietor of the company, were named in an FIR registered on August 25, the CBI said.

The CBI conducted searches at four locations, including the office and residential premises of the accused, which led to the recovery of incriminating documents and articles, including digital evidence.

The CBI action followed a complaint received against the Nagpur-based private company, its proprietor and other unknown public servants/private persons.

The complaint alleged that Lamba, while working as DGM, OFAJ, Nagpur, established a proprietorship firm and, by manipulating the terms and conditions of tenders, awarded tenders to the said firm.

The complaint alleged that the tenders were awarded on the basis of a forged/false experience certificate submitted by the firm.

It was alleged in the complaint that the accused DGM conducted multiple financial and banking transactions with the private firm through his own bank account and the bank accounts of his family members.

In a separate case involving government employees, the CBI registered a First Information Report (FIR) in connection with a gold export fraud at Chennai Airport Cargo, where a nexus of Customs officials and jewellery traders allegedly defrauded the Union government of over Rs 1,000 crore annually between 2020 and 2022.

The FIR names 13 accused, including five Customs officials, a jewellery assessor, a customs agent, and four gold jewellery manufacturers.

Those booked include Customs Superintendents J. Sureshkumar, Alok Shukla, and P. Tulasiram, jewellery assessor N. Samuel, customs agent Mariyappan, and manufacturers Deepak Siroya, Santosh Kothari, Sunil Parmar, and Sunil Sharma.

According to investigators, the accused imported 24-carat gold bars under the Duty-Free Import Authorisation (DFIA) scheme, which mandated that the bars be converted into 22-carat ornaments for re-export.

Instead, they allegedly exported gold-plated brass and copper ornaments or substandard jewellery, pocketing the margins and causing massive losses to the exchequer.

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