Patna: ED arrests former branch manager of Kotak Mahindra Bank in money laundering case

PTI, Jul 18, 2023, 5:47 PM IST

A Patna-based former branch manager of Kotak Mahindra Bank was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on money laundering charges in a case linked to alleged fraud with the lender, the agency said on Tuesday.

Sumit Kumar, who was posted at the bank’s Boring Road branch, was taken into custody by the federal investigative agency on July 10.

The ED produced him before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on July 11 following which he was sent to judicial custody.

Subsequently, the court granted ED the custody of the accused on July 17 for five days till July 21, the agency said in a statement.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR registered by the Bihar Police alleging that 13 ”fraudulent” transactions amounting to Rs 31.93 crore were executed from the bank accounts of the Competent Authority of Land Acquisitions cum District Land Acquisition Officer (CALA Cum DLAO) and the funds were ”siphoned off” using bank accounts of various shell/dummy entities.

The ED said Sumit Kumar, ”in connivance” with his accomplices, managed to get the funds transferred from the accounts of CALA Cum DLAO without the knowledge of signatory by ”forging” documents and also signatures on RTGS forms.

”He misused his position in getting the payments cleared without due verification,” the agency alleged.

Analysis of the bank accounts of Sumit Kumar and his wife showed transactions running into crores which are ”apparently disproportionate to their source of income and inconsistent with their profile”. ”Sumit Kumar has been instrumental in siphoning off funds from government accounts and causing loss of huge public money”, it alleged.