PS Jayakumar, the former chief executive of VBHC Value Homes, today took charge as the new MD and CEO of the state-owned Bank of Baroda for three years. The bank is under the scanner for an alleged black money transactions worth over Rs. 6,000 Crores. It was alleged that a whopping Rs 6,172 crore was remitted from Bank of Baroda to Hong Kong camouflaged as payments for non-existent imports like cashew, pulses and rice. The amount was allegedly deposited in 59 accounts in cash as advance for imports that never existed.

The bank’s Executive director B B Joshi yesterday clarified that the amount being mentioned was “exaggerated” and the actual amount involved was only half of it.

In mid-August this year, the government had roped in private sector professionals to run two of its largest banks — Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank. Ravi Venkatesan, ex-chairman of Microsoft India, has been appointed the non-executive Chairman of BoB. The government has also named Rakesh Sharma of Lakshmi Vilas Bank the new MD and CEO of Canara Bank.

The 53-year-old Jayakumar is a Chartered Accountant by qualification and additionally holds a PG diploma in business management from XLRI, Jamshedpur.  He is a career banker and has spent over 23 years with Citigroup in India and Singapore starting from 1986.