The Supreme Court of India has agreed to drop criminal charges against Nitin and Chetan Sandesara under certain conditions — paving the way for other offenders to seek similar settlements. The billionaire brothers had fled the country in 2017 after being accused of defaulting on domestic bank loans. The duo was accused of defrauding a consortium of government banks of a whopping $1.6 billion by obtaining fraudulent credit facilities.
According to a Reuters report citing court filings, the Sandesara brothers will have to pay a third of their dues for the charges to be dropped. They have repeatedly denied wrongdoing but fled India in 2017 using Albanian passports. The Supreme Court order cited their lawyer Mukul Rohatgias saying that the brothers were agreeable to paying a settlement of $570 million. The apex court has since outlined a December 17 deadline.
Who are Nitin and Chetan Sandesara?
The Gujarati businessmen had run a massive empire spanning industries from pharmaceuticals to energy until their fall from grace. The Sandesaras led the well-known Sterling Group — whose flagship company Sterling Biotech was a major producer of pharmaceutical‑grade gelatin.
What is the case?
The CBI had booked the company in connection with the alleged bank fraud in 2017. The FIR accused Sterling Biotech of taking more than Rs 5000 crore in loans from multiple banks (led by Andhra Bank) that turned into non-performing assets. The Enforcement Directorate also took cognisance of the CBI FIR to launch a separate money laundering probe. The agency had soon attached properties worth thousands of crores and arrested several businessmen and a former director of Andhra Bank.
Where are they now?
It was around this time in late 2017 that news of their escape from India surfaced — with the CBI reportedly admitting that it had “no information” about their whereabouts. The duo had later surfaced in Africa — leading the Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production in Nigeria. The company holds key accounts in the country and currently contributes around 2.5% of the federal revenue. A Bloomberg report revealed in 2023 that they had now shifted their focus to Lagos. The siblings have reportedly built the largest independent oil company in the biggest crude-producing nation of Africa and enjoy a prominent role under President Bola Tinubu. According to a CBI update, they had even applied for Nigerian citizenship at some point during their years on the run from Indian authorities.