PMC Bank scam: HDIL promoters' Wadhawans, former chairman Waryam Singh remanded to judicial custody till 23 October

HDIL promotes Rakesh Wadhawan, Sarang Wadhawan and former Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank chairman Waryam Singh have been sent to judicial custody till 23 October.

#NewsAlert – All three accused - Rakesh Wadhawan, Sarang Wadhawan, and Waryam Singh sent to judicial custody till October 23, 2019. | #PMCBankScam @radhika1705 with details. pic.twitter.com/SNoJf2g3Sv

— News18 (@CNNnews18) October 16, 2019

They were arrested in connection with the alleged Rs 4,355-crore scam at Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank. Rakesh and Sarang were arrested on 3 October while Singh was held on Saturday from Mumbai’s Mahim Church area. [caption id=“attachment_7447931” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] HDIL’s Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan. Image courtesy - CNBC-TV18.[/caption] According to the FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police, HDIL group promoters allegedly colluded with PMC Bank management to take loans from 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 (RBI). They “replaced” HDIL’s 44 loan accounts with over 21,000 fictitious loan accounts to “camouflage” HDIL’s loan defaults, the EOW told the court on Friday. The RBI had stepped in and imposed restrictions on withdrawals after the crisis at the bank came to light, causing panic among depositors of PMC Bank. On 7 October, EOW had registered an FIR against senior officials of HDIL and the PMC Bank for allegedly causing losses to the tune of Rs 4,355.43 crore to the bank. Property of Rs 3,500 crore belonging to HDIL was seized by the EOW following the arrest of Wadhawans. On 4 October, the Mumbai Police had arrested PMC Bank’s former managing director Joy Thomas. On 30 September, the Mumbai Police had registered a case against the former management of PMC Bank and promoters of HDIL, Rakesh and Sarang , in the fraud case. The police registered offences under sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant or banker), 420 (cheating), and 465, 466 and 471 (related to forgery) of the Indian Penal Code along with 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy). The bank, which has 137 branches and over Rs 11,000 crore in deposits, has been put under restrictions since last week after the RBI discovered certain financial irregularities in the functioning of the multi-state lender. — With PTI inputs