A special CBI court here has ordered issuance of 'Letters of Rogatory' seeking judicial assistance from the US and United Arab Emirates for a probe into a Rs 83 crore bank fraud allegedly committed by Pushpak Bullions.

Pushpak Bullions Pvt Ltd, through its directors Chandrakant Patel and Amit Yogesh Sampat, conspired with others and got sanctioned credit facilities of Rs 140 crore from nationalised banks, the CBI has alleged.

The accused submitted forged financial statements with inflated figures and siphoned off funds realized from debtors which resulted in a wrongful loss of Rs 70.48 crore to the Union Bank of India and Rs 12.71 crore to Bank of India, according to the central investigation agency.

The CBI had requested the court to issue Letters of Rogatory to the authorities in the US and UAE seeking documentary evidence related to the case.

Judge V P Desai of the special court for CBI cases on September 9 allowed the plea.

Letters of Rogatory are a formal request from a court to a foreign court for judicial assistance.

During the hearing on the application, prosecutor Anoop Yadav, appearing for the CBI, told the court that funds obtained from the banks were routed to Pushpak Mining & Exploration LLC, a company incorporated by Chandrakant Patel.

This company, in which Pushpak Bullions holds an 81% stake, subsequently acquired Pine Creek Mining Inc to develop the Gold Basin Mine in the USA, he alleged.

Gold jewellery and other items were shown to have been supplied to different entities based in the UAE, and the CBI needed to record the statements of witnesses based in the Gulf country, the prosecution said.