CBI action has intensified in the ₹183 crore fake guarantee scam, with two more taken into custody
BHOPAL
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two persons, including the managing director of Indore-based Teerth Gopicon Limited, in connection with a ₹183.21 crore fake bank guarantee scam linked to irrigation projects in Madhya Pradesh.
The accused, Mahesh Kumbhani, managing director of Teerth Gopicon Limited, and his associate, Gaurav Dhakad, were arrested on Monday and will be produced before a special CBI court on Tuesday. Their arrests follow earlier action by the agency in June, when three persons, including Punjab National Bank (PNB) senior manager Govind Chandra Hansda and Mohd Firoz Khan, were held in connection with the same case.
The investigation stems from Madhya Pradesh High Court directives, which led the CBI to register three cases of large-scale financial fraud. According to officials, Teerth Gopicon Limited secured contracts worth ₹974 crore from the Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam Limited (MPJNL) in 2023 for irrigation projects in Chhatarpur, Sagar, and Dindori districts. To win these projects, the company allegedly submitted eight forged bank guarantees valued at ₹183.21 crore.
Relying on these guarantees, MPJNL released around ₹85 crore as mobilization advances. During verification, MPJNL reportedly received fake email confirmations, sent from an address mimicking the PNB domain, which falsely validated the authenticity of the bank guarantees. Based on these fraudulent confirmations, MPJNL awarded the contracts to Teerth Gopicon Limited.
The CBI continues to probe the scam, which has exposed significant lapses in financial scrutiny and raised concerns over systemic vulnerabilities in project financing.
