Ex-chairman of PMC remanded in police custody

Mumbai: A magistrate court in Mumbai on Sunday remanded Waryam Singh, former chairman of the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank, in police custody till October 9. The police has arrested him in connection with the alleged Rs 4,355 crore scam at the bank.

This is the third major arrest in the case in the past three days. Earlier on Thursday, the police nabbed HDIL chairman and managing director Rakesh Kumar Wadhwan and Sarang Wadhwan, respectively, and their asserts worth `3,500 crore were frozen.

On Saturday afternoon, Waryam Singh had sent a 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, nabbed him near Mahim Church.

The latest development came a day after the PMC Bank’s missing Managing Director Joy Thomas was arrested in connection with the same case. Thomas was on Saturday remanded in police custody till October 17.

Last Monday, the EOW had registered a case against the PMC Bank and the HDIL for causing alleged losses worth `4,355 crore to the bank between 2008 and 2019 in the Bhandup branch.

Simultaneously, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday launched a separate investigation for money laundering and carried out raids in six locations in Mumbai.

ED sources said that an enforcement case investigation report, which is equivalent to a police FIR was lodged following a complaint by PMC Bank’s manager (recovery department) claiming that over 21,000 fictitious accounts were created to suppress the stressed loan accounts of the HDIL, flouting the Reserve Bank of India norms.