Raut's wife meets investigators in PMC bank probe

In connection with the PMC Bank scam, Sanjay Raut's wife Varsha Raut appeared before the Enforcement Directorate, today, while she was scheduled to appear on January 5. The Central agency questions her as she received Rs 55 lakh from Praveen Raut who availed a loan of Rs 95 crore from Punjab Maharashtra Co-operative Bank.

Mumbai: Varsha Raut, wife of Shiv Sena leader and Member of Parliament, Sanjay Raut, was summoned by the ED to probe the PMC Bank scam. Actually, on January 5, Varsha Raut was to appear before the ED office for interrogation. But before that, on January 4, Varsha Raut suddenly appeared before the ED office.

Praveen Raut, a close associate of Sanjay Raut, was sanctioned a loan of Rs 95 crore from Punjab Maharashtra Co-operative Bank. About Rs 1.6 lakhs was transferred by Praveen Raut to his wife Madhuri Raut's account. Out of the total amount, Rs 55 lakh was given to Varsha Raut as an interest-free loan in two phases.

An investigation has revealed that Rs 50 lakh was given to Varsha Raut in 2010 and Rs 5 lakh was given to Varsha Raut from Madhuri's account in 2011. The ED also claimed that the money was used to buy a flat in Dadar East. Varsha Raut is being questioned in this regard.

Varsha Raut had earlier sought time from the agency till January 5. Earlier, Sanjay Raut had stated that targeting women of a household was an "act of cowardice"."We are not scared of anyone and will respond accordingly," Raut had told.

According to sources, this was the third summons sent to the Sena leader's wife. She had skipped the earlier two summons too citing ill health, sources said.

In September last year, the RBI had capped the withdrawal limit and restricted the activities of the PMC Bank after an alleged fraud of Rs 4,355 crores came to light.

The ED had later seized and identified movable and immovable assets worth more than Rs 3,830 crores owned by Housing Development Infrastructures Ltd (HDIL) in connection with the case.

(With inputs from ANI)