Wadhawans, Waryam Singh instructed me to hide bad debt, says Joy Thomas

Joy Thomas, the suspended managing director of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank, in his interrogation by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police, revealed he was acting on the instructions of Housing Development & Infrastructure (HDIL) promoters Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan and former PMC Bank chairman S Waryam Singh to hide the bank’s bad debts given to HDIL Group from regulators and falsifying accounts to paint a rosy picture of the bank.

However, when the accused came face to face, they shifted the onus of their acts onto each other, revealed the remand extension application given by the EOW in a Mumbai court on Monday.

The court extended the police custody of Singh and Wadhawans till October 16.

The EOW in its remand application said that Singh, who served on the board of HDIL till 2009 and was later appointed chairman of PMC Bank, was acting at the behest of Wadhawans. Moreover, he has been accused by the EOW of playing a “double role”, holding positions at PMC Bank as well as HDIL.

The investigations have also revealed that Singh diverted funds from the bank and used them to buy various properties in Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. Manmohan Ahuja, an associate of Singh, is also under police scanner, and efforts are on to trace him.

Singh has purchased a five-star hotel in Punjab from the ill-gotten money of PMC Bank, the EOW investigations have revealed. Moreover, he has property worth ~2,500 crore near Juhu beach, the police have alleged.

Investigations have also revealed that accommodating entries have been made in the books of accounts of HDIL in respect of unpaid dues of loan accounts with PMC Bank since 2008 to mislead the Registrar of Companies and other institutions.

Also, during the course of interrogation, it has come to light that Thomas had diverted funds from the bank in illegal ways.

The police said Singh and Wadhawans have not been cooperating with them so far and that is one of the main reasons the police asked for an extension of their custody.