Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police has arrested three more people in connection with the Rs 4,355 crore Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank scam.
On Thursday, EOW arrested former director of the bank Jasvinder S Banwait, and two valuers Vishwanatha S Prabhu and Shripad G Jere from Yardi Prabhu Consultants and Valuers Pvt Ltd.
According to the EOW officials, Banwait served as the director-member of Loan, Investment and Executive Committee of the Bank for long span of time.
He was questioned regarding the loans extended to HDIL group, their long pending dues, and the measures taken to recover or regularise the pending dues. Banwait was arrested after he could not give satisfactory answers, said an officer.
Prabhu and Jere have allegedly inflated the valuation of PMC-owned properties in the year 2012 and 2015, as desired by PMC Bank chairman Joy Thomas. The inflated valuation was to maintain the bank's Capital Adequacy Ratio as mandated by the Reserve Bank of India.
The EOW officers said that the trio were questioned regarding their alleged roles in the scam; however, they failed to provide satisfactory answers confirming their involvement in the scam. On Thursday, they were produced before the court, which remanded them to police custody till March 16.
Court allows PMC depositors intervention plea
A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, on Thursday, allowed separate intervention applications of PMC Depositors Forum, PMC Bank and its RBI appointed administrator opposing former PMC chairman Waryam Singh’s bail plea. In their plea, the depositors have said that there will be irreparable loss to them if Singh is granted bail without hearing them.
