Noida, 28 July: The Noida Authority said it has initiated an investigation into alleged anomalies in the fixed deposit of Rs 200 crore of its money with a public bank, putting the actions of its finance department staff under scrutiny.
The investigation team will present its findings to CEO Lokesh M by August 5, according to the authorities.
A second police investigation is proceeding into the financial scam in which the FDs for which money was obtained from Noida Authority were never made. The discrepancies were discovered in mid-June under the time of previous CEO Ritu Maheshwari, and five persons have been detained so far.
Following the FD fraud investigation, Maheswari was removed as CEO of the Noida Authority on July 19 and replaced by Lokesh M, the Divisional Commissioner of Kanpur.
The authority issued a show cause notice to chief finance and accounting officer Manoj Kumar Singh on Wednesday, requesting a response within three days, failing which legal action, including suspension, might be taken against him.
According to authorities, the roles of financial controller Swatantra Kumar Gupta and accountant Rohit Bansal in the case are also being investigated.
“During preliminary investigation, several irregularities were discovered in the authority in the case of a Rs 200 crore FD, in order of which a show cause notice was issued for the suspension of the chief finance and accounts officer for showing irregular favour to the Bank of India branch located at Sector-62, Noida,” the Noida Authority said in a statement.
“If the authority does not receive a satisfactory response within three days, the authority will send a proposal for departmental action to the government, recommending suspension,” the authority stated.
According to the statement, the authorities stated that the whole sum (Rs 200 crore) has been received from the Bank of India in its account, and the bank has also promised to pay the interest due on the aforementioned amount.
