Arrested PMC Bank Auditors to be produced in court on November 12

The Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police will produce the two auditors before a local court on Tuesday. Both the arrested auditors have been accused of purposely overlooking the irregularities in the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank. The two auditors named, Jayesh Sanghani and Ketan Lakdawala were arrested by the Mumbai Police during the investigation by the police into the Rs 4,355 crore PMC bank scam.

The auditors were part of an audit firm that used to carry out routine audits for the bank. The cops are also looking into any possibilities of the auditing firm receiving any commission from the bank to overlook the irregularities.

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Earlier in September this year, the Reserve Bank of India had put restrictions on the activities of the PMC bank for 6 months. The RBI had also asked the bank to grant or renew any loans or advances, make investments or incur any liability, including borrowing of funds and acceptance of fresh deposits after the bank's scam, was exposed. The police have also arrested promoters of Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) and many PMC bank officials in connection with the scam.

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What is the PMC Bank Scam?

On September 21, the RBI took control of the bank for six-months. It had also capped withdrawals at ₹1,000 per account and the bank was not allowed to make any fresh loans for six months. The withdrawal limit has been increased to Rs. 40,000 as of Tuesday. After the takeover, PMC Bank, which has Rs.11,500 crore deposited the bank and has 137 branches, had admitted that one large account-HDIL was the sole reason for the present crisis, as per PTI. Following this, the HDIL directors Sarang Wadhawan and Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan who had been arrested in connection with a fraud of over Rs 4,355 crores, have been sent to custody. According to the police, PMC Bank officials gave loans to HDIL between the year 2008 and August 2019, despite HDIL not repaying the previous loans. The Wadhawans along with Waryam Singh - all HDIL promoters - and PMC bank's ex-chair Joy Thomas are being investigated. 

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(With inputs from ANI)