UCO Bank tanks 18% after CBI books ex-CMD in ₹621-crore fraud case

Shares of UCO Bank plunged nearly 18 % in morning trade after the CBI booked Arun Kaul, former chairman-cum-managing director of the lender, and others in connection with an alleged ₹621-crore loan fraud.

Shares  opened at ₹20, then lost further ground and fell to their 52-week low of ₹19.15, down 14.31 % over its previous closing price.

On NSE, the stock opened at ₹20.60, then fell to its 52-week low of ₹18.25, down 17.97 % over its last close.

On April 14, the CBI booked Kaul and others in connection with an alleged Rs 621-crore loan fraud which has caused a loss of over ₹737 crore to the bank.

Besides Kaul, the CBI booked Era Engineering Infra India Ltd. (EEIL), its CMD Hem Singh Bharana, two chartered accountants -- Pankaj Jain and Vandna Sharda -- and Pawan Bansal of Altius Finserve Pvt. Ltd. among others, they said.

It is alleged that the accused persons in pursuance of a criminal conspiracy defrauded the UCO Bank to the tune of about ₹621 crore by diversion and siphoning of the bank loans.

Kaul, who was the CMD of a Kolkata-based bank between 2010 and 2015, allegedly facilitated the accused company in obtaining the loan.