PMC Bank Fraud: Viva group MD, director file bail pleas

Viva Group Managing Director Mehul Thakur and Director Madan Gopal Chaturvedi have filed bail applications before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court after their arrest in the PMC Bank fraud case.

The bail pleas on merits of the case were filed on Tuesday and came for hearing before the court on Wednesday. The Enforcement Directorate is expected to respond to the pleas on 11 February.

The agency had arrested Thakur on 23 January and alleged that he had diverted over Rs. 196 crore from Housing Development Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) to Viva Group and transferring two properties worth Rs 34 crore to company controlled by promoters of the former to the group.

The ED also arrested Chaturvedi, a Chartered Accountant and Director of Viva Group. The agency while seeking their custodial interrogation in the case earlier had told the court that Thakur owned over 25 companies through his family members and relatives. Though most of these companies are now defunct, it said that they had been diverting huge funds from HDIL in connivance with its promoter Rakesh Wadhawan.

The diversion of such huge amounts from HDIL to Viva Group companies remains largely unexplained, the agency had told the court in its remand application.

Earlier the agency had searched five locations of the Viva Group in connection with the PMC bank fraud pegged at Rs 6,200 crore.