After removal of Jammu and Kashmir Bank’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Parvez Ahmad Nengroo yesterday, the Anti Corruption Bureau of Jammu and Kashmir police has intensified investigations against him. Soon after Ahmad was replaced by interim chairman R. K. Chibber, the ACB had raided the bank headquarters on the allegations of irregularities in appointments and other dealings in the bank during Ahmad’s term.

Today the ACB levelled several charges of nepotism and corruption by Parvez Ahmad Nengroo as chairman of the bank. According to ACB, he got his nephew appointed at his office, who is known as a key man of the chairman. He also got his daughter in law Shazia Ambreen appointed as PO who is currently heading the Hazratbal Branch of the bank. Two branches of the bank operate from the premises of the chairman and his in-laws. It is alleged that both the Kaprin Shopian and Wuyan branches are located at unsuitable locations from a banking point of view.

#BREAKING: After sacking of J&K Bank Chairman, the Anti-Corruption Bureau is investigating the following: 1) Meteoric rise of Parvez Ahmed from a CA to Chairman in a span of 15 years, a man with dubious credentials and shady reputation. (Long thread based on Govt inputs) — Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) June 9, 2019

Two relatives of Ahmad, Asif Beg and M. Fahim also work in the bank, and they control the HR, board affairs and credit proposals of J&K Bank. Two more relatives, Faheem Nengroo, Taseen Nengroo, work in the chairman’s office. On the other hand, former minister Farooq Andrabi’s brother Shamsuddin Andrabi, who is only 12th passed, was directly appointed as manager and posted at the Bhaderwah branch of the bank.

There is also a question on Ahmad’s date of birth, as according to his School certificate, his date of birth is 21 April 1963, but as per records he passed the matriculation exam in 1977, this means he was only 14 years old when passed the 10th board examination.

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Allegations of financial irregularities are also there against the former chairman. According to police, works for interiors of hundreds of branches of the bank were allotted to select few people at an inflated rate. Amounts ranging from ₹50 lakh to ₹1.5 crore were allotted for such work, but the actual cost was only about 30% of the amount paid.

During the term of Ahmad as chairman of the bank, loans worth hundreds of crore of Rupees were paid to select people on the recommendations of Imran Ansari and Sajad Lone, violating rules and guideline of sanctioning loans. Overdrafts of big amounts were also granted to people who had defaulted in payments to other banks, and many such CC accounts had turned into NPAs. It is also alleged that one time settlements were done with few defaulters in exchange of kickbacks.

There were huge variations in cost and income ratio of the bank, and expenditure increased to 200% to 500% during Parvez Ahmad Nengroo’s term as the chairman. It is alleged that ₹8 crore were spent under CSR on beautification of the Royal Spring Golf course. But this is a place used by elites only and common people didn’t benefit from this CSR activity.

The police sources said that action against the former chairman and probe into backdoor appointments, illegalities, loot and plunder is intended to cleanse the system, make it more transparent, and help the bank in maintaining its position as the leading bank of the state.