CBI Nabs Indore Firm’s MD in Sophisticated ₹183 Crore Fake Guarantee Racket to Secure Irrigation Projects

CBI Nabs Indore Firm’s MD in Sophisticated ₹183 Crore Fake Guarantee Racket to Secure Irrigation Projects
NEW DELHI/INDORE: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has apprehended the Managing Director of an Indore-based private company and another individual in connection with a massive ₹183.21 crore fake bank guarantee scam. The elaborate fraud was allegedly orchestrated to illicitly secure irrigation project contracts in Madhya Pradesh valued at a staggering ₹974 crore.
Mahesh Kumbhani, the Managing Director of M/s Teerth Gopicon Limited, and a private individual, Gaurav Dhakad, were arrested for their alleged involvement in the multi-crore fraud that targeted the Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam Limited (MPJNL). The arrests are the latest development in a sprawling investigation that has uncovered a sophisticated inter-state syndicate specializing in fabricating financial instruments to cheat government departments.
The investigation, which was taken over by the CBI following a directive from the Madhya Pradesh High Court, revealed that Teerth Gopicon Limited had submitted a total of eight counterfeit bank guarantees. These forged documents, amounting to ₹183.21 crore, were presented as collateral to qualify for three major irrigation projects in the districts of Chhatarpur, Sagar, and Dindori in 2023.
According to CBI officials, the modus operandi involved a well-organized gang based in Kolkata that systematically created the fake guarantees. To lend an air of authenticity to the forgeries, the accused allegedly created a fraudulent email domain that closely mimicked the official domain of Punjab National Bank (PNB). When the MPJNL sought to verify the bank guarantees, they received deceptive email confirmations from this fake address, falsely authenticating the documents.
Trusting the veracity of these counterfeit guarantees and the subsequent fraudulent email verifications, the MPJNL awarded the three contracts, collectively worth ₹974 crore, to the Indore-based firm. The company also managed to receive approximately ₹85 crore in mobilization advances on the back of these forged documents.
This is not the first set of arrests in this case. In June, the CBI had taken into custody Govind Chandra Hansda, a senior manager at PNB, and another individual, Mohammed Firoz Khan, both from Kolkata, for their alleged roles in the syndicate. The latest arrests of the company’s Managing Director and his associate point to a deeper conspiracy, with the CBI now focusing on the beneficiaries of the fraudulent scheme.
The duo of Kumbhani and Dhakad were presented before a special CBI court following their arrest. The agency is expected to probe their connections with the Kolkata-based syndicate and trace the money trail of the advances received. The case has blown the lid off a significant racket involving the collusion of private entities, bank officials, and organized criminals to defraud the public exchequer in high-value infrastructure projects.