New India Cooperative Bank Scam: Mumbai EOW Files 12,634-Page Chargesheet, Names 16 Accused | Representational Image
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police on Tuesday filed a 12,634-page chargesheet in the ₹167 crore New India Cooperative Bank (NICB) scam.
The chargesheet names 16 accused, including eight arrested, two proclaimed offenders, and six absconding individuals in connection with the NICB scam. The EOW recorded 55 panchnamas and 45 witness statements as part of the chargesheet.
The EOW had earlier registered a criminal case regarding the embezzlement of ₹122 crore in cash from the vaults of the Prabhadevi and Goregaon branches of the bank.
Among those named in the chargesheet are the bank’s former General Manager (Accounts) Hiten Mehta, former CEO Abhimanyu Bhoan, Dharmesh Paun, Manohar Arunachalam and his son Ulhanath Arunachalam, Kapil Dedhia, businessman Javed Azam, and Raviranjan Pandey. Proclaimed offenders include former Chairman Hiren Bhanu and his wife Gauri Bhanu.
Also named as wanted accused are Ajaysingh Rathod, Pawan Jaiswal, Shaukat Jamadar, Abhijit Deshmukh of Sanjay Rane and Associates, Laxminarayan Nayak of Shinde Nayak and Associates, and Subhash Mogal of S.I. Mogal and Industries. They are accused of misappropriating bank deposits and loans.
The EOW has attached 21 properties worth ₹167.85 crore belonging to five accused in the case. The investigation revealed large-scale irregularities in the granting of loans to ineligible borrowers, many of which were later sold to Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) at throwaway prices, causing massive losses to the cooperative bank.
A preliminary inquiry uncovered 2,000 suspicious loans and Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) worth ₹400 crore, allegedly granted by three top bank executives in exchange for kickbacks.
The New India Cooperative Bank began its journey as the Bombay Labour Cooperative Bank Ltd. It was founded in 1968 by socialist leader and former Union Minister George Fernandes, along with noted criminal lawyer and trade unionist Ranjit Bhanu, and initially operated from Bhanu’s residence at Bazar Gate, Fort.
