A special court in Mumbai on Friday sent realty company Housing Development Infrastructure Limited’s promoters Rakesh Wadhawan and his son Sarang Wadhawan to the Enforcement Directorate’s custody till October 22, ANI reported. The investigative agency is conducting inquiries into an alleged Rs 4,355-crore scam in the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank.
The two had been sent to police custody, along with PMC Bank’s former Chairperson Waryam Singh, till October 23 on Wednesday. While the Wadhawans were arrested on October 3, Singh was held two days later for his alleged involvement in laundering money. Joy Thomas, the former managing director of the cooperative bank, was sent to jail on Thursday. He is accused of criminal breach of trust, forgery and falsification of records of the bank’s dealings with HDIL.
The Wadhawans allegedly created more than 21,000 fictitious accounts to hide loans from PMC Bank, NDTV reported. They continued to default on the loans, which the bank allegedly did not mention in its annual report.
The bankrupt realty company’s promoters were also known to maintain a “flamboyant lifestyle” and moved around with armed guards.
Last month, the Reserve Bank of India took control of PMC Bank and initiated a forensic audit. It has also capped depositors’ withdrawal amount to Rs 40,000 for six months, increasing it from the Rs 1,000 limit that had been initially placed.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking the removal of the restrictions on customers. The court told the petitioners to instead approach High Courts for appropriate relief.
Also read: As PMC Bank crisis shows, depositors will benefit if RBI is more transparent about defaulters
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