New India Co-operative Bank Manager Sent To Police Custody In ‘Fraud’ Case

Mumbai:

A court here on Sunday remanded Hitesh Mehta, the general manager and head of accounts of the New India Cooperative Bank, in police custody till February 21 in a case of alleged misappropriation of Rs 122 crore from the bank.

The police’s economic offences wing (EOW) produced Mehta and Dharmesh Paun, another accused in the case, before a holiday court here.

The court remanded them in police custody till February 21 for further probe into the matter.

As per the police, Devarshi Ghosh, the bank’s acting chief executive officer, lodged a complaint against Mehta and others at Dadar police station in central Mumbai on Friday for alleged misappropriation of the bank’s funds.

Based on the complaint, the police registered a case in the early hours of Saturday, and the probe was transferred to the EOW.

The complainant alleged that Mehta and his associates hatched a conspiracy and embezzled Rs 122 crore from the safes of the Prabhadevi and Goregaon offices of the bank.

A case under sections 316 (5) (criminal breach of trust by public servants, bankers, and others in positions of trust) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita has been registered.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday superseded the cooperative bank’s board for a year and appointed an administrator to manage its affairs.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 the 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.

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