TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi-A criminal conspiracy to take money out of the country may have led to India’s second largest bank loan default case involving the Winsome Group’s debt of almost Rs. 7,000 crore. The Winsome Group, involved in diamond and gold trade, through its three Dubai-based companies, has committed the second biggest bank loan default after Kingfisher Airlines.
According to official records of Indian banks, the Winsome Group has now accumulated defaults of almost Rs. 7000 crore on loans from a consortium of 15 public sector banks. The Winsome Group borrowed in the name of three group companies — Rs. 4,366 crore to Winsome Diamond & Jewellers, Rs. 1,932 crore to Forever Precious Diamond and Jewellery and Rs. 283 crore to Suraj Diamonds. From the summer of 2013, the group started defaulting on loans, and in October that year, banks notified their decision to term the group a wilful defaulter.
According a trade magazine, three of the Dubai-based companies that had defaulted on their payments to Winsome Group in 2012, and which, in turn, led to the group defaulting on its loans from Indian banks, have been part of the parent group for a very long time. This contradicts the group’s claim that the defaulting companies were third parties beyond its control, and thus the chain of events that set off the massive financial loss to the Indian banks was beyond the group’s control.
