PMC Bank Scam Charge Sheet Names HDIL Bosses

The Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has filed a charge sheet naming the accused in the Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank scam, in a Mumbai metropolitan magistrate’s court.

The charge sheet filed has named former managing director of the Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank Joy Thomas, its former chairman Waryam Singh, former director Surjit Singh Arora as well as Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) promoters Rakesh Wadhawan as well as Sarang Wadhawan.

It may be recalled that the Mumbai police's EOW and the Enforcement Directorate had registered offenses in the case.

According to the 32,000-page charge sheet filed by the Mumbai police EOW in a metropolitan magistrate court in Mumbai, the accused have been charged under various sections of Indian Penal Code for cheating, fraud, destruction of evidence as well as falsification of documents.

The charge sheet contains details like the forensic audit report of the PMC Bank, besides documents of properties purchased by the accused bank officials, along with kickbacks received by them for giving showing favor to HDIL as well as its promoters, the Wadhawans.

It contains testimonial statements of 340 witnesses, including account holders in the bank, including those of four crucial witnesses which were recorded by the Mumbai police before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The fraud at the PMC Bank came to light in September 2019 after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) discovered that the bank had allegedly created fictitious accounts to hide over Rs 6,700 crore in loans extended to the almost-bankrupt HDIL.

Later, it was discovered by the RBI that the PMC Bank had masked 44 problematic loan accounts, including HDIL loan accounts, by tampering with its core banking system.