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The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested S K Jain, chairman and managing director of Syndicate Bank, for allegedly accepting bribes from private companies to extend credit facilities.
On Saturday, the agency conducted raids at 20 locations across Bangalore, Bhopal, Mumbai and Delhi, after registering a case in the matter. It confiscated Rs 50 lakh, allegedly received by Jain as bribe. “So far, searches have led to recoveries of several asset papers and incriminating documents,” said a CBI spokesperson.
During the raids, the CBI also unearthed about Rs 21 lakh in cash, gold worth Rs 1.68 crore and fixed deposit receipts of Rs 63 lakh.
The CBI alleged Jain had enhanced the credit limit to certain private companies, in violation of rules and regulations. The companies concerned are believed to be embroiled in the coal block allocation scam, according to the investigative agency.
Jain’s brother-in-law, as well as a chartered accountant, have also been taken into police custody. Vipul Agarwal of Prakash Industries Delhi has also been arrested in the case. Sources said a few others, including Neeraj Singhal, vice-chairman of Bhushan Steel, were also likely to be arrested.
Efforts to contact Singhal and the Bhushan Steel chief financial officer proved futile till the time of going to press.
For the quarter ended June, Syndicate Bank reported a 7.3 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 485 crore, compared with Rs 452 crore in the corresponding period last year. The bank’s total income rose 16.8 per cent to Rs 5,523 crore from Rs 4,726 crore in the year-ago period. During the same period, provisioning fell from Rs 489 crore to Rs 468 crore. While the bank’s net interest income rose one per cent to Rs 1,351 crore, against Rs 1,338 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, net interest margin declined to 2.47 per cent from 2.83 per cent. Deposits rose 17.72 per cent to Rs 2,14,863 crore from Rs 1,82,513 crore in the first quarter of 2013-14.
WELL VERSED IN VARIOUS FACETS OF BANKING
Sudhir Kumar Jain, whom Syndicate Bank employees describe as “soft-spoken”, took charge as chairman and managing director of the bank on July 8, 2013. A commerce graduate and chartered accountant, he started his career as credit manager at Dena Bank in 1987, steadily rising through the ranks to become general manager, heading the bank’s accounts, treasury, retail banking, investor relations and international segments. He also served as executive director of Bank of Baroda for two years. Jain, who hails from Rajasthan, has 27 years of experience in various facets of banking and has worked across capacities and locations, including Kolkata, Ahmedabad and New Delhi.
