Maharashtra Govt to probe babus over 'FD scam'

Mumbai, Apr 11: The BJP-led Government in Maharashtra today told the legislative Assembly that it would conduct in-depth inquiry into a fixed deposit scam' which allegedly took place during the previous Congress-NCP regime.

Minister of State for Home Ranjit Patil said while replying to a calling attention notice by BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar that an in-depth probe will be initiated against the officials involved in the scam.

Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said fresh norms will be put in place for the state-run corporations regarding the fixed deposits. Bhatkhalkar said that several of these corporations deposited crores of rupees with a single bank through a person, a hotelier, who claimed he was from that bank.

The hotelier told the bank, in turn, that he represented these corporations. He then gave the corporations duplicate deposit receipts and misappropriated the funds, Bhatkhalkar said.

All this would not have been possible without the help of corporation officials and their role should be probed, he said.

In 2014, the Economic Offences Wing arrested this hotelier who, along with others, had duped government agencies including MMRDA, Mahatma Phule Backward Class Development Corporation Limited, Maharashtra Tourism Developmental Authority (MTDC), Agriculture Produce Market Authority (APMC), etc., he said.

PTI