PMC Bank fraud: HC rejects bail plea of bank director Jasvinder Singh Banwait

On September 30, 2019, Mumbai Police’s economic offences wing (EOW) had registered an offence in connection with the fraud at the PMC Bank, accusing many of its directors of illegally extending huge loans to realty firm Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) and its group companies.

The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday rejected the plea filed by Jasvinder Singh Banwait, one of the directors of fraud-hit Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank, seeking bail on medical grounds due to the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

A preliminary probe by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) found that PMC Bank had replaced suspicious 44 loan accounts with 20,149 fictitious bank accounts, whose individual balances were low.(HT file photo)

Justice Sadhana Jadhav rejected the bail plea in light of a report submitted by the chief medical officer at Taloja Central Jail, where Banwait, a diabetic, is lodged since March 12.

Though Banwait had complained of bronchial asthma when he was brought to the prison, he is on medication and his health condition is stable, the report said.

Justice Jadhav directed the jail authorities to ensure that medicines and diet are provided to the prisoner on time.

On September 30, 2019, Mumbai Police’s economic offences wing (EOW) had registered an offence in connection with the fraud at the PMC Bank, accusing many of its directors of illegally extending huge loans to realty firm Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) and its group companies.

A preliminary probe by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) found that PMC Bank had replaced suspicious 44 loan accounts with 20,149 fictitious bank accounts, whose individual balances were low. According to the EOW, the 44 accounts, involving advances to the tune of Rs 7,457.49 crore, were masked by tampering bank software, which left them virtually hidden from the core banking solution.