Chandigarh, April 16 -- In a development that predates his April 8 surrender in connection with the multi-crore misappropriation of Panchkula MC funds, Pushpender Singh, the now suspended deputy vice-president of Kotak Mahindra Bank, had come under the income tax department's radar for allegedly facilitating loans worth Rs.70 crore to Chandigarh-based businessman Sunny Garg in a rather "suspicious manner". The Haryana State Vigilance & Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on March 24 had registered an FIR at Panchkula in connection with the Rs.150-Rs.160 crore MC banking fraud involving the liquidation of the corporation's fixed deposits (FDs) in Kotak Mahindra Bank using forged documents and fictitious accounts. Pushpender, the alleged mastermind of the fraud, has been in ACB custody since April 9. A resident of Sector 2, Panchkula, Pushpender allegedly bought luxury vehicles worth Rs.2.5 crore using the pilfered funds, probe has revealed. It has now come to light that Sunny Garg, who recorded a statement under Section 132(4) of the Income Tax Act following a search raid on January 29, acknowledged financial dealings involving Pushpender. HT has seen Sunny's statement, which was signed by Ankit Singh Rajput, assistant director of income tax (Investigation)-III, Gurugram. The questioning was primarily based on WhatsApp conversations between Sunny and Pushpender. Sunny is the brother-in-law of Mayank Goyal, son of former Panchkula mayor and BJP leader Kulbhushan Goyal. When contacted, Kulbhushan Goyal said he had nothing to do with the case or Sunny Garg. "He is distantly related to me, being the brother of my daughter-in-law," he said, adding that as mayor, he did not sign any document authorising deposits of MC funds. Two months after his statement to the income tax department, Sunny Garg on April 10 sent an email to the Punjab and Haryana high court registrar, the Panchkula chief judicial magistrate, ACB and Haryana Police, alleging a threat to his life from Pushpender. He claimed that Pushpender threatened to kill him and his family, citing links with politicians, senior police officers and gangsters, forcing them to go into hiding for over a month. Sunny also alleged that he received a recorded abusive threat from Rajat Dahra. In the email, he maintained that he was unaware of the source of funds, claiming Pushpender had described the money from Swati as proceeds from her husband's factory and funds from Rajat as his business income. After the Panchkula MC funds fraud came to light, the Haryana government on April 8 ordered de-empanelment of Kotak Mahindra Bank for conducting government business. "No government funds shall henceforth be parked, deposited, invested or transacted through the said bank," an order issued by the finance secretary stated. In a March 27 communication to the National Stock Exchange, the bank said it was examining the matter following Panchkula MC instructions and was cooperating with authorities....