Ex-PMC director in custody, EOW says 'abused' post to facilitate fraud

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A magistrate court on Friday remanded Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank's former director Surjit Singh Arora in police custody till October 22 in connection with the multi-crore scam at the bank. Arora was arrested on Wednesday.

While seeking Arora's custody, the investigating officer said he was the part of the loan committee for three terms and a director with the bank for over 10 years. According to EOW, Arora was one of the key members of the committee until the bank's affairs were taken over by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). EOW said the alleged fraud was sheltered by Arora. The agency told court, "The accused, along with others has performed his role in the alleged crime. By being a key member of the loan committee, he paved way for the crime, while being aware of the business activities of HDIL. He abused his official position to facilitate the fraud."

An EOW official, who did not wish to be named, told Mid Day, "We have to check the flow of monetary trail arrived in coffers of accused person through the crime proceeds of HDIL."

Adv Rizwan Merchant, defence lawyer arguing for Arora said, the first information report (FIR) was filed on September 30. "My client was not summoned even once and was suddenly arrested. This case is dependent on the documents. Till date, the accused does not have a single document and all documents are already with EOW." He told court that in the FIR, it has been mentioned that all the directors are accused, but none of them have been arrested.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) informed the court that all former PMC bank directors have gone underground. "Summons were issued against all directors since the FIR was registered, but all have gone underground and we are on the lookout for them," an ED official said.

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