New Delhi: Shares of UCO Bank plunged nearly 18% in morning trade on Monday after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked former chairman and managing director (CMD) of the bank, Arun Kaul, and others in connection with an alleged Rs621-crore loan fraud.
UCO Bank shares opened at Rs20 and fell to their 52-week low of Rs19.15 on BSE, down 14.31% over its previous closing price. On NSE, the stock opened at Rs20.60 and fell to its 52-week low of Rs18.25, down 17.97% over its last close.
On 14 April, CBI booked Kaul and others in connection with an alleged Rs 621-crore loan fraud which has caused a loss of over Rs737 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 Rs621 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.