The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has told a special court in Panchkula that Pushpinder Singh, the alleged mastermind behind the Rs 150 crore Kotak Mahindra Bank scam and Deputy Vice-President of the bank, purchased a BMW 7 Series, other luxury vehicles and immovable properties using funds siphoned from Municipal Corporation (MC), Panchkula accounts.The agency alleged that all the assets were sold before March 2026, when the fraud came to light.The State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SV&ACB), Haryana, had registered an FIR in the case on March 24, 2026, following which the ED initiated a money laundering probe. Pushpinder Singh was serving as branch manager of Kotak Mahindra Bank’s Panchkula branch when the alleged fraud took place.ED investigationThe ED informed a Special Court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Panchkula, that two bank accounts of MC Panchkula — 2015073031 and 2046279112 — were opened and operated using forged documents.According to the agency, Rs 88.17 crore was transferred from these accounts to co-accused Rajat Dahra, Rs 31.58 crore to co-accused Swati Tomar, Rs 2.36 crore to co-accused Kapil Kumar and Rs 1.41 crore to Vinod Kumar.Kapil Kumar told the ED that Rajat Dahra opened a bank account in his name on the pretext of arranging a good job opportunity and obtained his signatures on 10-12 cheques at the residence of Pushpinder Singh.Swati Tomar told investigators that Rajat Dahra had similarly persuaded her to open bank accounts for his work. She alleged that under the influence of Pushpinder Singh and his wife, Preeti Thakur, she opened accounts with PNB, ICICI Bank and IDFC Bank and later handed over signed blank cheque books, ATM cards and other banking instruments to Dahra.The ED told the court that all transactions in these accounts were carried out by Dahra. Tomar further stated that Dahra had asked her to obtain two SIM cards in her name, which she later handed over to him.She also told investigators that she had never advanced any loan to Pushpinder Singh, Preeti Thakur, Rajat Dahra, Aryan Singh, Samar Mohan Ranga, Jattvibeny Garg, Priyanka Garg or entities linked to Jattvibeny Garg, nor did she know many of the individuals to whom money had been transferred from her accounts.Role of Rajat DahraAccording to the ED, Rajat Dahra stated that in 2020, Pushpinder Singh asked him to provide his bank account details to facilitate accommodation entries and instructed him to transfer the funds back to the accounts of Pushpinder Singh and Preeti Thakur.Dahra further alleged that Pushpinder Singh later directed him to open additional bank accounts for receiving accommodation entries, following which Swati Tomar and Kapil Kumar were brought into the arrangement.The agency submitted that Pushpinder Singh allegedly issued instructions to Dahra through WhatsApp regarding the transfer of funds received through accommodation entries to various accounts.Dahra also told investigators that he had never advanced money as a loan to Pushpinder Singh, Preeti Thakur, Jattvibeny Garg, Swati Tomar, Priyanka Garg or firms linked to Jattvibeny Garg. He further alleged that he handed over his mobile phones to Pushpinder Singh, who destroyed them in March 2026.According to the ED, Dahra stated that Pushpinder Singh purchased several vehicles in his name and payments were made through his bank accounts. The BMW 7 Series, Thar, Scorpio-N and Indian motorcycle were allegedly used by Pushpinder Singh and Preeti Thakur.“All the vehicles in his name were sold by Pushpinder Singh, and the sale proceeds were utilized by Pushpinder Singh only. He further stated that he handed over an amount of Rs 1 crore in cash to Pushpinder Singh in the month of March 2026,” the ED told the court.The agency also cited the statement of former Panchkula MC accounts officer Vikas Kaushik, who allegedly told investigators that all physical communication between Kotak Mahindra Bank and the civic body was handled by Dileep Kumar Raghav, relationship manager at the bank, and Pushpinder Singh.According to the ED, Kaushik stated that Pushpinder Singh was always kept in the loop on communications concerning transactions in the MC accounts and that Singh, who was branch manager when the accounts were opened, had offered him a financial inducement for assistance in the alleged scam.The ED further claimed that Pushpinder Singh admitted receiving Rs 33 crore from Rajat Dahra and Swati Tomar between 2020 and 2023 as loans, which he used to purchase luxury vehicles and immovable properties that were subsequently sold before March 2026.According to the agency, a prima facie case has emerged showing that Pushpinder Singh allegedly used his position as Branch Manager and Deputy Vice-President of Kotak Mahindra Bank to facilitate the opening and operation of unauthorised bank accounts in the name of MC Panchkula and transfer funds from authorised municipal accounts to accounts allegedly controlled directly or indirectly by him through Rajat Dahra, Swati Tomar and others.The ED further alleged that he obtained signed blank cheques and SIM cards from individuals such as Swati Tomar and Kapil Kumar and routed large sums through layered banking transactions.On June 1, counsel for Pushpinder Singh, Deepanshu Bansal, argued before the court that the requirements of Section 19 of the PMLA had not been satisfied and that the ED’s remand application violated his client’s fundamental rights, warranting his immediate release from custody.After hearing the arguments, the Special Court remanded Pushpinder Singh to ED custody till June 9 to ascertain the ultimate beneficiaries of the alleged proceeds of crime and determine the quantum of funds received by each beneficiary.Money transferred from MC Panchkula accountsRajat Dahra: Rs 88.17 croreSwati Tomar: Rs 31.58 croreKapil Kumar: Rs 2.36 croreVinod Kumar: Rs 1.41 crore