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Shares of UCO Bank plunged nearly 18 per cent in the morning trade as the CBI has booked Arun Kaul, former chairman-cum-managing director of the lender, and others in connection with an alleged Rs 621-crore loan fraud.
UCO Bank shares opened at Rs 20, then lost further ground and fell to their 52-week low of Rs 19.15, down 14.31 per cent over its previous closing price. On NSE, the stock opened at Rs 20.60, then fell to its 52-week low of Rs 18.25, down 17.97 per cent over its last close.
On the NSE, UCO Bank plunged as much as 18 per cent to its lowest since August 30, 2006. The stock posted its biggest intraday percentage fall since November 9 2016.
The stock was down over 41 per cent in 12 months, as of Friday's close. Over 5.4 millon shares change hands, over seven times the 30-day average of 730,344 shares.
On April 14, the CBI had booked Kaul and others in connection with an alleged Rs 621-crore loan fraud which has caused a loss of over Rs 737 crore to the bank.
Besides Kaul, the CBI has booked Era Engineering Infra India Ltd (EEIL), its CMD Hem Singh Bharana, two chartered accountants -- Pankaj Jain and Vandna Sharda -- and Pawan Bansal of Altius Finserve Pvt Ltd, among others.
It is alleged that the accused persons in pursuance of a criminal conspiracy defrauded UCO Bank to the tune of about Rs 621 crore by diversion and siphoning of the bank loans. Kaul, who was the CMD of a Kolkata-based bank between 2010 and 2015, allegedly facilitated the accused company in obtaining the loan.
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