New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said it has arrested a former Kotak Mahindra Bank executive alleged to be the mastermind of a ₹145-crore fraud in which Panchkula municipal corporation officials, bank employees and private persons allegedly conspired to siphon off government funds.
Pushpinder Singh, a former deputy vice president of the private sector lender, was arrested by the Chandigarh Zonal Unit of the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on June 1, the agency said in a statement.
A special PMLA court in Panchkula has sent Singh to ED custody till June 9, the statement said.
The money laundering case stems from an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Panchkula, under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Prevention of Corruption Act against unidentified bank officials.
According to the ED, the FIR alleged embezzlement of the funds of the Municipal Corporation, Panchkula, worth Rs 145 crore through a "deep-rooted, well-organised criminal conspiracy" involving bank officials.
The federal agency said its investigation has so far revealed a "closed criminal nexus of municipal corporation officials, bank officials and private persons" that allegedly hatched a conspiracy to siphon off government funds.
The ED alleged that Dileep Kumar Raghav, a former customer relationship manager at Kotak Mahindra Bank, along with Singh and Vikas Kaushik, former senior accounts officer of MC Panchkula, opened two bank accounts in the name of the civic body using forged and fake authorisation documents.
"The funds of MC, Panchkula available in genuine accounts were transferred to unauthorised and illegal accounts using forged and fake fund migration authorisation letters in the name of MC, Panchkula," the agency said.
