Upasana alleges Poonam, Padmini broke FDs

She claims funds were transferred from an account that was meant to remain frozen, though the exact amount withdrawn is unclear

The ongoing dispute over the management committee of the Cine and Television Artistes’ Association (CINTAA) has taken another turn, with actress and former office-bearer Upasana Singh making allegations against Poonam Dhillon and Padmini Kolhapure over the organisation’s fixed deposits and bank accounts. In a conversation with IANS, Upasana alleged that money belonging to CINTAA was transferred after an account that had been frozen was accessed. She claimed that the organisation has fixed deposits and bank accounts across five banks and that the banks had previously been informed about the dissolution of the committee.

“We have FDs in five banks and accounts in five banks. When our committee was dissolved, Deepak Parashar was the treasurer. So, we informed all the banks that the committee had been dissolved. We told them that when a new committee comes, whoever takes charge, the accounts can be opened. Until then, they should remain frozen,” Upasana said.

According to Upasana, there was an understanding that the accounts would only be opened after a court order recognised the new committee. She alleged that this did not happen as expected. “When we won a few days ago, we thought we would again inform them that this committee has come in. But our understanding was that the accounts would be opened only after a court order came stating that this committee would now function.

Until then, they should not be opened,” she said. “We found out that the account had already been opened. They had opened their account there, and the money from CINTAA’s FDs was transferred into it. They have used that money in different places,” she alleged.

Upasana questions how CINTAA FDs were broken

Questioning the process through which the fixed deposits were allegedly broken, Upasana said the organisation’s members should have been consulted before such a decision was taken. “It is such a big issue because if you want to break the FDs of any institution, you have to ask the members first. How can they break the FDs?” she said. When asked whether an authorised signature would have been needed to carry out such a transaction, Upasana alleged that CINTAA’s office staff helped facilitate the process.

“They must have needed an authorised signature. But you see, the account was frozen. So what did they do? They met the office staff. The office staff is involved with them. They took the staff to the bank and showed them the stamp, the email ID and the office, and asked them to open the account through KYC,” she alleged. She also named Poonam Dhillon and Padmini Kolhapure while describing the alleged interaction with the bank. “They took Paintal saab, Poonam and Padmini and told the bank, ‘This is our stamp, this is our email ID and this is our office. You open our account through KYC.’ The staff was also there and showed the bank that this was their office,” she claimed.

‘Exact amount of broken FDs is not clear’

According to Upasana, the money was allegedly moved through multiple transactions. She said the exact amount of fixed deposits that had been broken was not yet known, although she claimed around ₹90 lakh was held in the FDs. The allegations come amid an ongoing dispute over the management and committee of CINTAA. Padmini and Poonam have not yet responded to the allegations.