Two bank officials in Maharashtra seized for opening 685 fake loan accounts by manipulating bank records

Two bank officials of an inoperative Pen Urban Cooperative Bank in Raigad district, Maharashtra, have been taken into custody for by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for sacking Rs 774 Cr of public funds for personal gains.

The former chairman of the bank, Shishir Dharkar, and expert director Prem Kumar Sharma were arrested for embezzlement of funds under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), according to the ED.

“The duo are the main conspirators as well as beneficiaries of the money laundering scam that was carried out at the bank between 2001 and 2010,” the agency has said in a statement.

According to the agency, the fraudulent officials opened 685 fake loan accounts in various branches of the bank by manipulating bank records and pulled out the funds for personal gains. They added that at the time of the closure of the bank, the total outstanding in these loan accounts was Rs 774 crore.

The funds were used either to buy immovable properties, or pay earlier non-performing assets (NPAs) or taken out as cash through cheques or demand drafts discounting for personal benefits, the statement said.

More than 100 acres of landed properties of Rs. 22 Cr were brought in the name of third parties using those funds.

The depositors of the bank, who were around 2 lakh, have been affected by this gravely and are demanding their money back.