Police arrest New India Cooperative Bank’s General Manager in Rs 122 crore 'fraud'

The Mumbai police on Saturday arrested Hitesh Mehta, General Manager and Head of Accounts of the New India Cooperative Bank, for allegedly misappropriating Rs 122 crore from the bank, officials said.

Mehta was placed under arrest by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the city police after being questioned for more than three hours, an official said.

He was called to record his statement before the probe agency at its south Mumbai office in connection with the case registered against him and others, he said.

Mehta will be produced before a local court on Sunday, the police official added.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday superseded the cooperative bank’s board for a year and appointed an administrator to manage its affairs. A day prior to that, it imposed several restrictions on the lender, including on withdrawal of funds by depositors, citing supervisory concerns emanating from the recent material developments in the bank, and to protect the interest of its depositors.

Acting Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Devarshi Ghosh, on Friday lodged a complaint against Mehta and others at the Dadar police station in central Mumbai for alleged misappropriation of the bank’s funds, the police said.

“Based on the complaint, the police registered a case in the wee hours of Saturday, which was then transferred to the EOW for investigation,” another official said.

As per the complaint, Mehta along with other associates hatched a conspiracy and embezzled Rs 122 crore from the safes of Prabhadevi and Goregaon offices of the bank, he said.

A case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 316 (5) (criminal breach of trust by public servants, bankers, and others in positions of trust), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) was registered, he said.

During the investigation, it came to light that the misappropriation of the funds had started soon after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. While the accused embezzled Rs 112 crore from the safe in Prabhadevi, Rs 10 crore were siphoned off from the Goregaon branch, he said.

“As Mehta’s involvement in the crime came to the fore, the EOW placed him under arrest,” the official said.

New India Cooperative Bank has 28 branches and most of them are located in Mumbai, while two are in Surat in neighbouring Gujarat and one in Pune.

The RBI’s action against the bank triggered panic among its customers, who thronged its branches on Friday and Saturday, hoping to access their savings.