Demonetisation fraud: Court denies bail to bank manager

A special court has denied bail to a suspended officer of a private bank who was arrested in a case of alleged irregularities in facilitating the conversion of about Rs 35 crore worth of demonetised currency.

Special Judge Hemani Malhotra dismissed the bail plea of Ashish Kumar, the then manager of Kotak Mahindra Bank, saying the allegations against him were serious and prima facie showed that he had cheated the government and public of crores of rupees.

Kumar, who has been in custody since December 22, 2016 in another case, was arrested by the Delhi Police in this case on March 28 for alleged offences of cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery of a valuable security, using forged document as genuine and criminal conspiracy.

"The facts and circumstances thus prima facie reflect that accused (Kumar) cheated the government and general public to the tune of crores of rupees in a well-thought and systematic manner and was aided by co-accused and other associates of his who are still at large," the court said.

The judge also said that since the allegations against the accused were "grave and serious in nature and the fact that investigation is still underway, I do not see any premise to grant bail to Ashish Kumar. Same is accordingly dismissed."

Prosecution alleged that during the probe, it was found that co-accused Raj Kumar Goel and his associates were engaged in earning profits by routing money into various accounts by using forged documents. They received commission from the clients who either needed money by cheque or in cash.