The probe going on in the Rs 4,500 crore Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank scam has revealed startling details. Details about the former chairman’s dealings have now come out in the open.
Former chairman of PMC Bank, Wariyam Singh, who is currently in police custody, had bought a plot of land worth Rs 2,500 crores in Mumbai’s posh Juhu area using depositor’s money.
The probe further revealed that a person by the name of Manmohan Ahuja was the frontman of Singh in all his transactions up north. The probe agency is on the lookout for Ahuja, who is currently on the run. The money is alleged to have been diverted from PMC Bank to buy a five-star hotel in Amritsar. The hotel us currently being run by the Lemon Tree group. Singh’s money was also invested in other properties in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
The four main accused in the scam are former chairman Wariyam Singh, HDIL’s promoter Rakesh Wadhawan, his son Sarang Wadhawan and former Managing Director of PMC Bank Joy Thomas They are under arrest right now.
Since EOW will exhaust its 14-day police custody of the four accused later this week, it plans to question the 12 directors of the PMC Bank board also. However, their probe has revealed that among the bank’s personnel only Joy Thomas and Waryam Singh knew about what was going on, while from the HDIL side, only Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan knew.
Meanwhile, police will also question Thomas’ second wife, who co-owns the Pune properties with him. Thomas had married her after converting to Islam and changing his name to Junaid Khan.
On Monday, the RBI also increased the withdrawal limit for depositors of PMC Bank to Rs 40,000. At a press release, they stated that it has decided to hike the withdrawal limit after reviewing the bank’s liquidity position and its ability to pay its depositors.