Coop bank CEO among four booked for fraud

Shiv Kumar Sharma

Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, January 21

The police have booked four persons, including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Yamunanagar Central Cooperative Bank Limited for issuing loans and sanctioning cash credit limits (CCL) to non-existent firms.

On the complaint of bank Chairman Kehar Singh, the case was registered against Lokesh Dutt, CEO, Karnail Singh, branch manager of the Kalawad branch, Krishan Kumar, in charge of non-farm finance section, and Randhir Singh, owner of a fake firm, at the Chhappar police station in the district on January 17.

Kehar Singh said that he became the bank chairman in April 2012. He received a complaint in March 2014 that the bank and its branches were issuing loans and sanctioning CCL to non-existent firms. He said that he inspected the branches and found the allegations to be true. He said that several officers had issued loans and CCL of Rs 5-6 crore to several non-existent firms.

On his complaint, a team was constituted by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies to conduct an inquiry and found several officers guilty of issuing loans and CCL to non-existent firms in December 2014.

Kehar Singh said that the inquiry report revealed that the CCLs had been sanctioned by the CEO deliberately showing the GM of the bank on official tour whereas the GM was not on tour that day. In most of the cases, project reports signed by CAs and other documents were prepared just to avail credit facility from the bank and there was no firm in most of the cases, he added.

He said that he had written to the police against several officers of the bank supporting documents of 12 non-existent firms on September 22, 2016. “The police will register separate FIRs against at the respective police station. Now, an FIR has registered at the Chhappar police station of an embezzlement of Rs 87 lakh,” said Kehar Singh.