Sanjay Raut's Wife Summoned Again For Questioning In PMC Bank Scam Case

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut's wife has been summoned again by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for her alleged involvement in the PMC Bank's money laundering case. Varsha Raut will have to appear before the ED for a second time on January 11. This has been her fourth summon so far. Varsha was previously interrogated on 4 January.

Varsha Raut has been accused of participating in a financial fraud along with Pravin Raut, the main accused in the case, who is the director of an infrastructure company. He was arrested for clearing out funds over rupees 95 crores from the bank which was disguised as a loan. He then transferred rupees 1.6 crore to his wife who granted rupees 55 lakh as "interest-free loan" to Varsha Raut in two transactions.

Meanwhile, Pravin Raut who had earlier served as the director of Guruashish constructions, a subsidiary of Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), has been questioned earlier along with his wife Madhuri Raut. His assets worth Rs 72 crores have now become a part of this probe. As of now, the ED has discovered that Varsha Raut and Pravin are partners in Avani Constructions.

Varsha's husband Sanjay Raut has consistently denied his wife's involvement in the case. He has always maintained that both of them have been in touch with the ED for about two months in this case. Officials claim that the ED will also investigate into a transaction worth rupees one crore between a former Shiv Sena legislator and one of his aides.

This case came to light last September when several irregularities emerged in some loan accounts of the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank. This prompted (RBI) Reserve Bank of India to take control of the bank and cap withdrawals. Read more here.

A criminal case was registered against the HDIL in October 2020 and its promoters Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan, his son Sarang Wadhawan, its former chairman Waryam Singh and ex-managing director Joy Thomas. The Mumbai police's FIR says that they have caused losses worth Rs 4,355 crore to PMC bank.

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Varsha Raut had skipped the first two summons issued in her name by ED on health grounds. In December last year, she had sought more time to appear before the ED.

Image Credit: NDTV