2018 has been the year of scams, money laundering and fraud so far. The dust after the PNB fraud hasn’t yet settled but a new Disproportionate Assets case has come to our notice. The ex-CMD of United Bank of India has been caught by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Archana Bhargava is the former Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the United Bank of India. She is said to have acquired assets worth 3.64 crore rupees which is disproportionate to her known sources of income. The case goes back to a case registered in 2016 against her. The CBI at the time conducted searches of her residence and the premises of Rank Mercantile Private Limited in Delhi. Bhargava seemed to have accumulated the assets from 2004 till the end of her tenure in 2014.
The FIR was registered against her on 28th February. During the searches, the CBI recovered ‘heavy cash’, gold and documents, both movable and immovable assets in her and her family’s name. Bhargava resigned from her position as CMD on February 25th, 2014 at the time RBI initiated a probe against her and the bank because of the pile-up of bad loans in the last two quarters of 2013-14. The case was registered by the CBI against her in September 2016 for charges of corruption, the case was made against her and the two companies that are linked to her. The searches uncovered, jewellery worth 2.85 crores, cash amounting to 10.50 lakhs from bank lockers under her name and in the name of her family members.
A CBI spokesperson said that the ex-CMD had abused her position while working at the United Bank of India and collected money for herself to form a company in her and her husband’s name. The companies were granted credit facilities from the banks. The rate at which the cases are coming out in the open, makes one wonder. More than the question of how many people are corrupt, the question is how many people are not?