Accused MP Rigil.
Kozhikode: The custody period of the accused, who siphoned off crores from the Kozhikode- Link Road branch of the Punjab National Bank, will end on Tuesday evening. The bail plea of accused and former PNB manager MP Rigil will be considered on Tuesday. No other frauds were reported.
The accused has allegedly defrauded Rs 21.29 crore from 17 bank accounts, leading to the loss of Rs 12.68 crore. The investigation team found that Rigil invested over Rs 10 crore in share market and utilised the remaining amount for house construction and playing rummy.
The Crime Branch inspected the bank account details of Rigil and investigated if any similar frauds were carried out in the PNB branches in Eranhipalam and Palakkad, where he had worked. However, no other illegal transactions were found.
The investigation team said that the accused began to invest in share market in 2014. But he started to face losses during the period of Covid 19. This urged him to embezzle more money from the bank.
Kozhikode Corporation lost Rs 12.6 crore through these frauds. Rs 8 lakh has reportedly been lost from private accounts of the bank. The inspections are likely to wind up by Tuesday as there is no disparity between Rigil’s statements and the findings of the bank.
The primary probe revealed that no other persons are involved in the scam. Rigil was arrested on December 14 following 16 days of hiding.