Barely hours after Chairman of the J&K Bank, Parvez Ahmed, was shunted out of the office by the Governor’s administration on Saturday, skeletons started tumbling out of the closely guarded closet inside the corporate headquarters of the bank.
Ahmed was appointed as chairman or the J&K Bank in October 2016 and his tenure was coming to an end in the month of October 2019.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials raided the bank’s headquarters in Srinagar immediately after the decision to remove the Chairman was made public by the Governor’s administration.
According to preliminary reports, the ACB, which was established a few months ago in Jammu & Kashmir, launched the crackdown following persistence of the Union Home Ministry to look into the aspects of the bank’s governance, reports of terror-funding, and money laundering.
Sources said investigations have revealed that during his term in office, Parvez Ahmed was found allegedly involved in promoting his close relatives, sanctioned loans in brazen violation of rules and awarding hefty contracts to renovate office premises.
In its efforts to crackdown on corruption, nepotism, favouritism, and striking against the backdoor non-transparent employment, the MHA had called for cleaning of the J&K Bank and bringing transparency and accountability, while ensuring compliance with RBI directives to bring checks and balances.
“The J&K Bank was also directed to separate the positions of chairman and managing director for better governance and ensure high levels of financial probity,” spokesman of the State Government said in a written statement.
During the surprise raids, which continued even on Sunday, sleuths of Anti- Corruption Bureau have reportedly seized large number of files related to recruitment, soft loans, refurbishment of bank branches from the office of Chairman and computers in the data room.
The Jammu and Kashmir Government holds 59 per cent stake in the J&K Bank.
Commenting on the sudden developments, Parvez Ahmed in a Twitter post said he has absolutely no regret over his work and that he did his job “most diligently, honestly and in the best interest of the institution”.
“Open to scrutiny on each and every transaction I have done during my two decades of functioning in the bank,” he tweeted.
A senior Government official said Ahmed had a meteoric rise from a CA to chairman within a span of 15 years and has a “dubious credential and shady reputation”.
Pervez Ahmed joined the Bank as a Company Secretary in 1998 and has led the Bank in various Corporate and Operational assignments over a period of two decades till assuming office as Chairman and CEO in October 2016.
Among the nine Board of Directors in the J&K Bank, two are from the Kashmir Valley -- the chairman himself and businessman Ashraf Mir.
It has been alleged that Ahmed got his nephew, Muzaffar, posted into his office immediately after taking over as chairman.
His daughter-in-law, Shazia Ambreen, was also allegedly appointed as a Probationary Officer and is currently heading the Hazratbal branch, the official said.
Two branches of J&K Bank, Kaprin in Shopian and Wuyan in Pulwama, operate allegedly from his own premises and those of his in-laws, the official said.
Two of his relatives, Asif Beg and M. Fahim, both nephew, allegedly control the Human Resources and Board affairs including the credit proposals.
Recently the J&K Bank signed an insurance deal with IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Company where the chairman’s sister’s son reportedly works, according to the official.
Interiors of hundreds of the branches were allegedly allotted to select individuals for Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore per branch while actual cost is only 30 per cent of the money paid, it is alleged.
It was also alleged that a 12th grade pass brother of a former Minister and a relative of a top politician was appointed directly as manager allegedly through back door and posted in J&K Bank’s Bhaderwah branch.
Loans worth hundreds of crores were allegedly allotted without formalities in “brazen violation” of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) or guidelines to select recommendees of two politicians.
Overdrafts of hefty amounts were allegedly released to habitual defaulters of other banks. Many of such accounts turned Non-Performing Assets (NPA).
One-time settlements were done with select defaulters against alleged huge kickbacks.
It was alleged that Rs 8 crore has been spent as corporate social responsibility (CSR) on beautification of a golf course.
It was also alleged that Rs 30 lakh was paid to a particular media outlet for publishing advertisements to highlight the budget but there was little visibility, the official said.