RBI administrator seeks FIR against MD
SINCE SCAM is over Rs 6 crore, EOW to act after scrutinising documents on Monday
The Reserve Bank Of Indiaappointed administrator for the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) bank, J B Bhoria, approached the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police on Friday, to register an FIR against Joy Thomas, the ousted managing director of the crisis-ridden bank, charging him with fraud for suppressing the bad debts of the bank and misrepresentation of the bank's account books.
Sources told The Free Press Journal that EOW officials however, refused to register an impromptu FIR on the basis of the complaint made by Bhoria and asked him to furnish relevant documents by Monday for scrutiny, before registering the case.
"We have asked him (Bhoria) to come on Monday with the documents. Only after scrutiny and verification, we will take a call whether it merits an FIR," a top Mumbai police officer told the FPJ on Saturday," adding, "as per the EOW manual, any complaint (of fraud) involving an amount of, or more than Rs 6 crore requires prior verification before an FIR is registered."
Sources said that the administrator would approach the EOW again on Monday with documentary evidence to adduce his complaint.
Interestingly, the administrator's move came barely an hour after Thomas addressed a press conference on Friday, admitting that the loans extended by the bank had not been not classified as NPA (non-performing assets) in the last six-seven years, in the fear that it could hamper the quick growth of the bank. He then went on to accuse the RBI auditors offailing to detect the wrongdoings and claimed that the facts about the financials of the bank had been disclosed to the regulatory authority by the bank management itself.
He was also critical of the suspension of the board of directors of the PMC, terming it 'hasty', and accused the RBI of being unempathetic towards the bank's predicament. "We gave the loan to HDIL (a real estate firm) to save it from going bankrupt.
"He (Thomas) has been the MD of the PMC since 2010. Moreover, he has been associated with the bank since 1987. How could he have turned a blind eye to such serious malpractices?" sources asked.
It was because the bankruptcy of the company would have long-term effects on our end," he claimed. Meanwhile, terming Tho-mas's confession of omissions at the press conference as "a pre-emptive move" to save him from imminent harsh action, sources in the regulatory body said that the sacked managing director can not absolve himself of complicity in the crime. "He (Thomas) has been the MD of the PMC since 2010. Moreover, he has been associated with the bank since 1987. How could he have turned a blind eye to such serious malpractices?" sources asked. Countering claims that the bank management had volunteered to disclose the facts to the RBI, sources said that disclosures were made following a complaint by a whistleblower on September 17. Though the identity of the whistleblower has been kept secret, it is learnt that he is a senior functionary in the bank, who had repeatedly expressed his reservations about the misrepresentation facts. "It was only after matters went out of hand, the RBI was approached for surrendering the licence on September 19," sources said. Though the bank had sought permission to conduct its own inspection, the RBI, which was reportedly aware of the MD's actions (through preliminary inquiry) decided to carry out an inspection by appointing an administrator, while issuing directions under Section 35 of the Banking Regulation Act, limiting withdrawals. "It was necessary for the protection of thousands of depositors across seven states in the country," sources added.