Film director Vijay Gutte, who had made The Accidental Prime Minister, and his father, MLA Ratnakar Gutte, have been booked by the CBI in a Rs. 409 crore bank loan fraud case. Their Gangakhed sugar mill has also been named in the case filed. Several premises of the Guttes were searched by the CBI in different parts of Maharashtra in connection with the case.
The Gutte family allegedly defrauded UCO Bank-led consortium of six banks by availing of credit facilities. It is alleged that Gangakhed Sugar and Energy Ltd. had taken credit facilities of Rs. 577 crore between 2008 and 2015 from the consortium of banks to establish Integrated Cane Processing Plant (ICPP) with manufacturing facilities of sugar, distillery and rower. Ratnakar Gutte mortgaged 196 acres of land at Parbhani, besides other properties, collectively valued at Rs. 324 crore. Personal guarantee of Gutte family members worth Rs. 450 crore was also given to the banks.
It is alleged that the Gutte family diverted the loan amount for other purposes through fictitious transactions and thereby defaulted in the loan repayment to the bank so that the loan account ultimately turned NPA.
In 2022, the Enforcement Directorate had taken possession of Gangakhed Sugar mill along with several land parcels spread over 40 hectares, which they had attached in a money laundering case they are still probing against Gutte. The ED case was based on a cheating FIR.
