PMC money trail ends in Amritsar

Acres of land near Juhu beach, five-star hotel in Amritsar: all from PMC loot

Disgraced former chairman of the crisis-ridden Punjab and Maharashtra Co-Operative (PMC) bank, Waryam Singh, is suspected to have acquired vast tracts of land in Juhu and in several North Indian states, including a fivestar hotel in Punjab, from the proceeds of the bank loot.

On Monday, a magistrate's court remanded Singh (68) to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) custody for the second time, till Wednesday. Earlier he was remanded to the EOW custody for 12 days following his arrest on October 4.

While seeking his further custodial interrogation, the EOW told the court that the agency had come across information that Singh held a 'huge and luxurious' land parcel alongside the beach in Juhu worth around Rs. 2,500 crore. The land is located adjacent to Citizen Hotel.

Apart from that, Singh had also purchased a five-star hotel, Lemon Tree,' in the posh Model Town area of Amritsar. The hotel is located alongside the Grand Trunk Road.

Apart from that, the former PMC chairman had purchased land in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh -- all of which is suspected to have been acquired from the money he misappropriated from the PMC. The EOW sleuths have identified one Manmohan Ahuja, who acted as a 'front' for Singh in the purchase of properties in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Efforts are on to trace Ahuja, the police said.

"A forensic audit in the case is on and every day new facts about mutualisation of the bank's funds by the accused persons is coming to light. However, the accused are not explaining in detail how the entire plan of siphoning off the bank's funds was hatched," the police said, while pressing for further custodial interrogation of Singh. Singh had served as director on the board of various holding companies of HDIL till 2009, before he was elected as chairman of the PMC bank. The police said he was acting on behalf of Rakesh and Sarang Wadhwan, promotors of HDIL.

The proceeds of former PMC chairman Waryam Singh’s crime run into thousands of crores