Ex-PMC Bank MD Thomas led double life; owns 10 properties with 2nd wife
Mumbai: Joy Thomas, the former MD of scam -hit PMC Bank, converted to Islam and became Junaid Khan to marry his personal assistant, with whom he allegedly jointly owns 10 properties in Pune, police officials said on Monday.
Thomas, arrested earlier this month, is one of the key accused in the alleged Rs 4,355-crore scam at the city-based Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank.
Real estate firm HDIL's promoters Rakesh Wadhawan and his son Sarang and the bank's former chairman, Waryam Singh, are the other accused in the scam.
The Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW), which is investigating the fraud case, has found that since 2012, Thomas (62) had purchased nine flats and a shop in Kondhwa and other areas of Pune.
These ten properties were purchased jointly by Thomas and his second wife, who was his former assistant at the bank, the officials said. All these properties were bought by the husband-wife duo since the beginning of 2012, they said.
This was also the time when the Wadhawans of Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) began to default on loans taken from the bank, but kept borrowing additional amounts from the cooperative lender, they said.
The source of money used by Thomas and his second wife to buy these properties is being ascertained, they said.
"We are yet to find out the share percentage of ownership in these ten properties," an official said.
Besides the ten properties in Pune, Thomas also owns a flat in adjoining Thane and a commercial property which is under the control of his son from his first wife, he said.
Thomas married his personal assistant at the bank after converting to Islam and acquired a new name, Junaid Khan, the officials said.
When Thomas's first wife came to know about his second marriage, she filed for divorce and the case is in the final stages, they said. Thomas, arrested on October 4, is in police custody till October 17.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Three youths bludgeon 40-year-old man to death with brick in Baghpat
Baghpat (UP) (PTI): Police said on Saturday that three youths allegedly bludgeoned a man to death with a brick in Meetli village here following a late-night beer party.
Preliminary investigations suggest the dispute arose from a suspected illicit relationship, said police, adding that the three accused have been detained.
Police received information on Saturday morning that the body of Sonu (40), a resident of Dola village, was lying in the forest near Meetli village.
There were visible signs of severe head injuries on his body, and bottles of liquor and beer were also recovered from the crime scene, leading to the suspicion that a drinking party had taken place there before the incident, police said.
Superintendent of Police Suraj Kumar Rai said police registered a case based on the written complaint submitted by the family members.
Police sent the body for a postmortem.
According to the deceased's family members, two youngsters from the same village took him away at 8:00 pm on Friday, and he never returned home.
They said when they tried to contact him via phone, his mobile number was switched off.
The deceased worked as a street food vendor in the village and is survived by his wife, two sons, and two daughters.
