PNB’s Chief Manager Detained for Plotting in Rs.400 Crore Loan Scam

The Ghaziabad police arrested a chief manager of the Punjab National Bank‘s Greater Noida branch on Tuesday, March 7th, for alleged collaboration in a Rs.400 crore loan scam with the main suspect, Lakshya Tanwar.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the loan scandal detained Chief Manager Utkarsh Kumar from the bank’s Greater Noida branch, according to Ghaziabad Superintendent of Police (SP) Nipun Agarwal.

Kumar had been assigned to the PNB’s Chandra Nagar branch at the time of the Tanwar bank loan fraud, in which Tanwar had obtained bank loans worth over Rs 400 crore using fake documents in cooperation with other bank officials.

For their roles in the scam, police had previously detained the bank’s assistant general manager Ramnath Mishra and manager Priyadarshini.

Tanwar is charged with 39 counts of cheating and forgery, while Kumar is charged with 12 counts, according to SP Agarwal, who added that the SIT is probing the alleged hideouts of Tanwar’s wife, Priyanka Tanwar, and over a dozen other suspects in the case.

Former bank employees who were complicit in the scam would also be detained soon, according to the SP. Tanwar was arrested, and the Ghaziabad administration had already taken possession of his immovable property. Tanwar has also been charged under the Uttar Pradesh Gangster Act, according to Agarwal.

A man named Shivam filed a complaint at the G T Road Kotwali police station in August 2020, alleging that Tanwar, his wife Priyanka Tanwar, PNB manager Kumar, Deputy Manager Priyadarshani, and other employees had purchased two properties worth Rs.1.33 crore in his name and obtained a loan of Rs.4 crore from the bank.

The police discovered that Shivam and his father, Sunil Kumar, had a strong relationship with Tanwar during their inquiry. Shivam filed the lawsuit to safeguard himself and his father after the bank began sending him notices to recover the loan amount, according to police.

Source: The Indian Express & Deccan Herald