Waryam Singh, former chairman of PMC Bank purchased hotel in Punjab, Rs 2,500 cr property in Mumbai allegedly using lender's money

Waryam Singh, former chairman, Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank made a lot of high-value investments from the alleged Rs 4,355-crore fraud, an investigation by Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has revealed, media reports said.

The investigation by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police has revealed that Singh diverted funds from the bank and used them to buy various properties in Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. Manmohan Ahuja, an associate of Singh, is also under police scanner, and efforts are on to trace him, according to a report in Business Standard.

Representational image. PTI

Singh owns a five-star hotel in Punjab which is valued at current prices at Rs 400 crore to Rs 500 crore from the ill-gotten money of PMC Bank, the EOW investigations have revealed. The business hotel at Grand Trunk Road in Amritsar, Punjab, has been handed over to hospitality group Lemon Tree, for day-to-day operations, according to a report in Hindustan Times.

The EOW official, who is part of the PMC Bank investigation, said Singh bought this property “using a frontman named Manmohan Ahuja”, the report said.

Moreover, he has property worth Rs 2,500 crore near Juhu beach, the police have alleged.

Singh is one of the four accused in the PMC Bank scam.

He was arrested from Mahim where he was hiding since an FIR was registered against him by the EOW. While citing Waryam Singh's role in the fraud, the EOW officials said that he is one of the key conspirators in the fraud, according to a report in India Today.

The other three are father-son duo who are promoters of HDIL Group—Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan, and the suspended managing director of PMC Bank, Joy Thomas.

Besides Singh, the EOW has arrested the Wadhawans and Joy Thomas after the alleged Rs 4,355 crore scam came to light. On Wednesday, EOW by arrested Surjit Singh Arora, one of the former directors of the scam-hit PMC Bank. This is the fifth arrest in the case.