ACB registers case against former J&K Bank chairman

Srinagar: Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered a case against former chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Bank for allegedly causing loss to the public sector lender while executing a deal with a private insurance company, officials said Tuesday.

The case was registered against Parvaiz Ahmad Nengroo on a source report which revealed that an insurance deal had been reached in violation of norms between JK Bank and IFFCO Tokio, where his close relative was employed, the ACB officials said.

The officials said verification conducted into the matter revealed that as per the insurance deal, IFFCO Tokio was conferred business of insurance in Srinagar and Anantnag districts at the cost of bank resources and that of Bajaj Allianz Company, which was already in arrangement with J&K Bank since 2002.

"The initial probe has revealed that the bank suffered a loss of Rs 71 lakhs in commission for the first quarter of the current fiscal. While the arrangement with Bajaj Allianz had yielded a commission of Rs 1.59 crore in first quarter of 2018-19, the commission from IFFCO Tokio in the corresponding period this year was only Rs 88 lakh," the officials said.

By resorting to the acts of favouritism and abuse of official position



as chairman J&K Bank in connivance with MD IFFCO Tokio, Nengroo's relative Asif Manzoor Beig was appointed in the insurance company as chief manager (Srinagar office) against annual salary package of Rs 19.29 lakh which is approximately 2.5 times higher than that of the package given by Bajaj Allianz where he was functioning as deputy manager earlier, the officials said.

The omissions and commissions on the part of Nengroo in furtherance of "conspiracy hatched with officer/officials of IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Company while executing an insurance deal with the said company in order to secure appointment of his close relative Asif Manzoor Beigh in the said company and others at the cost of J&K Bank resources constitute criminal misconduct under J&K PC Act 2006 and thus disclose commission of offences punishable under section 5(1) (d) read with 5(2) J&K Prevention of Corruption Act and section 120B of the RPC," the officials said.

The ACB sleuths had Monday conducted searches of the office premises of IFFCO Tokio at Residency Road here to seize the "incriminatory evidence related to the commission of the offence by the officers/officials of the IFFCO Tokio".

The former bank chairman did not wish to comment on the ACB case.