A special CBI court in Mumbai has rejected the discharge plea of Abhay Lodha, Managing Director and promoter of Topworth Steels & Power and the Topworth Group. He stands accused of orchestrating a ₹74.8 crore bank fraud at UCO Bank, even though he was not formally a director of the implicated company, Akshata Mercantile Pvt Ltd (AMPL). The court concluded that Lodha exercised “direct control” over AMPL’s affairs and that the evidence demonstrates his criminal intent. The allegations involve misuse of Letter of Credit (LC) facilities based on falsified transactions and forged documents. Notably, ₹43 lakh was allegedly diverted to pay housing loan EMIs for Lodha himself and a co-accused.

The court emphasized that without Lodha’s involvement, the scheme could not have taken place. The CBI also highlighted that Lodha is named in six other similar cases involving LC fraud via shell companies and forged paperwork.

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