Rs 41 crore loan fraud; CBI raids AAP MLA’s premises; Rs 16.57 crores and foreign currency notes recovered

NEW DELHI: Amid the ongoing dispute between the Punjab government and the union government, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has raided the premises of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Jaswant Singh Bagga on Saturday, on the complaint lodged by the Ludhiana branch of Bank of Baroda alleging a loan fraud of Rs 41 crores. The CBI has recovered approximately Rs 16.57 lakhs in foreign currency, property documents, bank accounts and other incriminating documents. Along with this, 94 blank cheques and several Aadhaar cards were also recovered.

Jaswant Singh Bagga is an MLA from Amargarh. According to the CBI, the complaint has been filed against a private firm based at Gaunspura village, Malerkotla tehsil in Punjab and others including then directors, guarantors of the private company, another private firm and unknown public servants. Jaswant Singh had requested loans from the bank between 2011 and 2014 which had been sanctioned. The bank had declared the account as NPA in 2014. A complaint was lodged in 2018. In addition, cases have also been registered against Jaswant Singh’s brothers and the other directors of the bank.