PMC Bank scam: Sanjay Raut's wife not to appear before ED on December 29, seeks time till January 5

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's wife Varsha, who was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in the PMC Bank money laundering case on December 29, will not appear before the agency on Tuesday, reports ANI.

She has sought time from the agency till January 5.

Varsha had been asked to appear before the federal agency in Mumbai. This is the third summons issued to her after she skipped the earlier two on health grounds, added the officials.

The summons for questioning has been issued to her under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED wants to question Varsha with regard to 'receipt' of some funds that were allegedly siphoned from the bank, said official sources.

The ED had filed a PMLA case to probe the alleged loan fraud in the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank in October last year against the Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), its promoters Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan and his son Sarang Wadhawan, its former chairman Waryam Singh and ex-managing director Joy Thomas.

The agency took cognisance of a Mumbai Police Economic Offences Wing FIR against them for allegedly causing 'wrongful loss, prima facie to the tune of Rs 4,355 crore to PMC Bank, and corresponding gains to themselves'.

The Shiv Sena, which is part of Maharashtra's ruling alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) along with the NCP and the Congress, had earlier alleged that central probe agencies have been targeting them unfairly.