What former-IL&FS top brass got for loans? Foreign trips, private jets and chopper rides

New Delhi: Foreign trips, private jet travels, chopper riders and interior decoration at houses aboard - the probe into the IL&FS saga has unearthed many such inducements that the top brass allegedly got from borrowers in return for faster loans and delayed recoveries.

As large-scale manipulations continue to unravel at the once-mighty group, an investigation by the government's white-collar fraud probe agency SFIO has revealed several cases where the top brass got personal benefits from the borrowers of IL&FS Financial Services Ltd (IFIN), the non-banking financial services arm of the Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS).

E-mail trails have revealed deep-rooted connivance between former senior IL&FS officials and Siva Group Chairman C Sivasankaran as loans continued to be evergreened and recoveries delayed, according to officials.

The SFIO (Serious Fraud Investigation Office) probe into the affairs of IFIN found that the company had entered into 15 transactions of advancing loans to or investing in debentures of Siva Group companies.

Based on email data, the probe agency found that Sivasankaran arranged hospitality for at least three executives - Ravi Parthasarathy, Vibhav Kapoor and Hari Sankaran.

These included foreign travels, private jets and helicopter rides, booking of resorts and even arranging for interiors of some flats in Brussels (Belgium), according to the officials.

In return, the three officials were found to have connived with Sivasankaran and influenced the decision-making process at IFIN, including those related to recovery and disbursement of loans and fees, they added.

New loans were extended to the group to facilitate repayment of existing loans, which were required to be classified as non-performing assets.

The fraudulent circuitous transactions among IFIN and Siva Group companies had aided to project a rosy picture of financial statements and defraud the lenders of IFIN, the officials said.

The massive scam at IL&FS came to light last year after several group entities defaulted on repayments due to a liquidity crunch. Amid the situation raising concerns about the overall financial system, the government superseded the IL&FS board.

At the end of March 2018, the sprawling IL&FS group's debt burden was estimated to be more than Rs 90,000 crore.