Police file FIR against PMC, HDIL officials; SIT formed
Mumbai: The Mumbai Police on Monday filed a case against the former bank management and promoters of HDIL in the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank case and said a special investigation team will be probing the case.
Based on a complaint by RBI-appointed administrator, the city police's Economic Offences Wing filed a first information report (FIR) in the case for forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy against the officials.
As per initial investigations, the bank's losses since 2008 were Rs 4,355.46 crore, police said.
The bank's former chairman Waryam Singh, managing director Joy Thomas and other senior officials, along with the director of HDIL, Wadhawan, have been named in the FIR. First name of Wadhawan was not immediately available.
Explaining the modus operandi of the case, the FIR said HDIL promoters allegedly colluded with the bank management, to draw loans from the bank's Bhandup branch.
Despite non-payment, the bank officials did not classify the loans as non performing advances and intentionally hid the information about the same from RBI, an official statement from the police said.
They also created fictitious accounts of companies which borrowed small sums of money, and created fake reports of the bank to hide from the regulatory supervision, it said.
The FIR has been filed 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.
Meanwhile, the government has issued a look out circular against two directors of realty firm HDIL after preliminary findings allegedly revealed financial irregularities at the company, according to a senior official.
The official said that the circular has been issued against the company's Managing Director Sarang Wadhawan and Whole Time Director Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan.
The move follows a request by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs which has been made operational by the Bureau of Immigration that comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs, the official added.
