A sessions court rejected the anticipatory bail applications filed by directors of Ghaziabad-based Indian Exchange of Metals (IEM), after National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) filed criminal complaints.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police had conducted a search and seizure operation after complaints filed by the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) against IEM and its directors J K Arora, Sahil Arora and Mohinderlal Arora, for allegedly cheating steel holders by not delivering almost 1,200 metric tonnes of steel.
The court did not grant any interim relief to the accused.
Mumbai police said that it froze bank accounts, raided IEM on December 12 and seized records from IEM's warehouse of Ghaziabad warehouse after NCDEX filed criminal complaints.
NCDEX and the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) had received numerous complaints against IEM from steel holders who had not received steel deliveries to the tune of 4000 metric tonnes valued at around Rs 15 crore.
IEM refused delivery attributing it to shortage in steel due to storage in its warehouse and non-payment of C&F charges by some participants who dealt in steel, thereby denying holders of their rightful deliveries and making them incur huge losses.
Earlier, IEM had signed a MoU and business arrangement with the Steel Authority of India (SAIL).
IEM, an approved NCDEX warehouse, had cheated depositors and steel holders who had traded on the Exchange, by not delivering steel purchased by them, which was allegedly in its custody.
