As the name of a deputy vice-president of Kotak Mahindra Bank cropped up in the over Rs 150-crore scam, the bank on Monday agreed to return Rs 127 crore to the Municipal Corporation (MC), Panchkula, whose funds were siphoned off in the fraud.According to submissions made by the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SV&ACB) before a Panchkula court on Monday, the name of the bank’s deputy vice-president, Pushpender Singh, appeared as the main accused in the preliminary investigation. Pushpender, who is absconding, was branch manager of the Sector 11 branch in Panchkula, where the fraud took place.Relationship manager of the bank Dileep Kumar Raghav allegedly told the investigating agency that he could assist it in the arrest of Pushpender as he knew about his addresses.Raghav also told investigating officers that he could provide relevant information about the scam. When he was taken to the investigation agency’s office, MC officials identified him as the one who used to send them emails on their Fixed Deposit (FD) details with incorrect information, said the SV&ACB. At their instance, Raghav was arrested on March 25.After the bank returned Rs 127 crore to the MC, a top official in the Urban Local Bodies Department said the bank had given back only the principal amount, though their loss was higher.In a statement, a spokesperson of Kotak Mahindra Bank said, “As the reconciliation relating to FDs and linked bank accounts of the Panchkula MC has progressed, certain discrepancies have been identified that may affect both the bank and the MC and are currently under examination. In this context, and given the bank’s long-standing relationship with government institutions, the bank has placed an amount of Rs 127 crore with the MC, while the investigation continues.”As per the FIR in the scam, the MC was maintaining 16 FDs, amounting to Rs 145.03 crore, with a maturity value of Rs 158.02 crore, in the bank’s Sector 11 branch in Panchkula. Of the 16 FDs, 11, amounting to Rs 59.58 crore, matured on February 16. When the MC contacted the bank, officials provided statements, which neither matched each other nor the MC records, particularly in respect of the FDs.Also, two more accounts of the MC had surfaced at the bank but were not in the local body’s records.Meanwhile, Raghav was remanded to judicial custody today.