PMC bank case: Absconding ex-chairman Waryam Singh arrested

Mumbai: S Waryam Singh, the absconding ex-Chairman of the crisis-hit Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank Ltd, has been nabbed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police, in connection with the alleged Rs 4,355 crore scam at the bank.

This is a fourth arrest in the case.

Singh, 68, missing since the irregularities in the PMC Bank tumbled out two weeks ago, was traced to a location in Mahim where he was in hiding and picked up, a Mumbai Police spokesperson said.

The police said that he will be interrogated for his prima facie involvement in the alleged Rs 4,355 crore fraud case concerning the Housing Development & Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL).

Earlier on Saturday afternoon, Waryam Singh created a flutter by sending a signed, type-written letter to the EOW DCP Parag Manere, stating that he planned to surrender before the EOW by evening and was also willing to cooperate.

However, the police team, which was already keeping a watch at his Andheri residence, quickly got cracking to flush him out of his hiding place near the Mahim Church.

The EOW has already arrested former managing director of the bank Joy Thomas, and promoters of HDIL group Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan in the case.

According to the FIR registered by the EOW, HDIL group promoters colluded with the bank management to take loans from the its Bhandup branch in Mumbai.

Despite non-payment, bank officials allegedly did not classify these loans as non performing advances, and hid the information from the Reserve Bank of India.

They "replaced" HDIL's 44 loan accounts with over 21,000 fictitious loan accounts to "camouflage" HDIL's loan defaults, the EOW told a court here on Friday.

The bank, which has 137 branches and over Rs 11,000 crore in deposits, was put under restrictions last week after the RBI discovered financial irregularities.

According to sources, overall exposure of the bank to the financially stressed HDIL group is around Rs 6,500 crore or over 73 per cent of its advances, and all of it is not being serviced.

The Enforcement Directorate also conducted raids at six locations in and around Mumbai on Friday after taking cognisance of the FIR registered by the EOW.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS.)

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.