On Saturday 7th of May, a CBI team carried out raids at the properties linked to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Jaswant Singh Gajjan Majra in connection with an alleged bank fraud of Rupees 40 crores. The raids were conducted at 3 separate locations in Sangrur and Malerkotla.
The searches were conducted in connection with the case against the Amargarh MLA over a complaint lodged by Bank of India, Ludhiana branch. During the searches, the CBI team recovered 94 blank cheques signed by different signatories and several Aadhar cards.
Sharing details about the raids, the CBI spokesperson RC Joshi said, “Cash worth Rs 16.57 lakh (approx), around 88 foreign currency notes, some property documents, several bank accounts, and other incriminating documents were found and recovered during searches.”
Explaining the nature of the fraud, Joshi added, “The borrower firm was sanctioned loans at 4 intervals from 2011-2014 by the Bank. It was further alleged that the firm through its Directors had concealed hypothecated stock and diverted book debts with malafide and dishonest intention so that the same was not made available to the creditor Bank for inspection and for effecting recovery as a secured creditor. An alleged loss of Rs. 40.92 Crore(approx) was caused to the Bank.”
The case was registered against Jaswant Singh, Tara Corporation Ltd (renamed as Malaudh Agro Ltd.) based at Gaunspura, Tehsil- Malerkotla, and others. The AAP MLA was a director and guarantor in the accused company. Jaswant Singh’s brothers Balwant Singh and Kulwant Singh, and nephew Tejinder Singh are also accused in the case.
Kejriwal’s claim of ending corruption in Punjab takes a blow
Soon after winning the assembly elections in March and forming the government in Punjab, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal claimed that his party has ended corruption in Punjab within 10 days. However, that claim can not be taken seriously right now with even the party’s MLAs getting embroiled in large-scale fraud cases.
Jaswant Singh had earlier made news when he announced that he will only take Rupee 1 as salary during his MLA tenure, and will not take any pension.
