After his arrest this morning, Puri, the relationship manager of Citibank, Gurgaon branch, was produced before a special court as other courts are on winter vacation.
Citibank relationship manager Shivraj Puri, accused of engineering one of the biggest banking frauds of recent times, surrendered before Gurgaon police and was remanded to police custody till January 6.
Gurgaon police commissioner SS Deswal said Puri was produced before a local special court and has been remanded to 7 days police custody. “His interrogation is expected to throw up crucial details about how the fraud was engineered and the role of his other absconding accomplices,’’ Deswal said.
The police had on Wednesday issued a look out circular notice alerting airports to track all four accused, the names of the three remaining accused haven’t been officially revealed so far.
Gurgaon police will also investigate the role of a brokerage firm, Norway Martin, owned by Puri’s father Raghuraj, which invested the “swindled” money into stock markets. So far the investigators have unearthed investment of about Rs300 crore in the stock market.
“The scam is much bigger than reported. Assessment shows it is worth Rs300 crore, not Rs100-200 crore,’’ police said.
Gurgaon police also said Rs200 crore was invested by a Delhi-based Hero group and another Rs100 crore by individuals. Puri in turn invested the money in five major brokerages, including Religare, Okaya and Bonanza.
Investigators now hope to reconstruct the money trail with Puri’s help. They would also be probing whether any money was laundered out of the country. “RBI and Sebi have already been informed about the fraud,” Deswal said. On the likelihood of other agencies, including the anti-money laundering agency enforcement directorate, joining the probe, Deswal said, “We are qualified and competent to investigate.”
The fraud had come to the notice of Citibank authorities on Tuesday when sifting through suspicious transactions after one of their clients brought to light a scheme floated by Puri promising high returns for investments, something like 18%.
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