New India Co-operative Bank scam: Ex-bank official under scanner for siphoning off ‘nine-digit amount’

Hitesh Mehta, former general manager of the New India Co-operative Bank. Pic/Ashish Raje

Hitesh Mehta, the prime accused in the New India Co-operative Bank scam, has admitted to transferring a nine-digit sum to the bank's former senior executive. Following this revelation, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) searched the executive's premises, but he remains untraceable and has reportedly been unreachable for the past few days. The EOW is investigating the disappearance of Rs 122 crore from the bank's cash vault - a shortfall discovered during an inspection on February 12. After the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) flagged the issue, the bank was instructed to file a complaint with the Mumbai police, and the case was subsequently transferred to the EOW. During interrogation, Mehta confessed his involvement to the RBI.

So far, the EOW has arrested Mehta, SRA developer Dharmesh Paun, and former CEO Abhimanyu Bhoan. According to sources, Mehta initially claimed to have transferred R70 crore to Paun - who has already been arrested - and Rs 40 crore to an individual identified as Arun Arunachalam alias "Anna," who is currently absconding. He has now admitted to transferring an additional nine-digit sum to the former senior executive. "We need clarity from him, and we have reached out, but he remains unreachable," said an officer involved in the investigation.

(Left) Hitesh Mehta, former general manager of the New India Co-operative Bank is produced in the Esplanade court on February 16. Pic/Ashish Raje

The probe has also uncovered discrepancies regarding the vault capacities at the bank's Goregaon and Prabhadevi branches. During the February 12 inspection, records showed that the bank was supposed to hold Rs 133.41 crore in cash, with Rs 122 crore missing - Rs 112 crore from Prabhadevi and Rs 10 crore from Goregaon. However, investigators found that the Prabhadevi vault could accommodate only about R10 crore, with the Goregaon vault having a similar capacity. RBI's inspection recorded just Rs 10.53 crore at Goregaon and Rs 60 lakh at Prabhadevi on that day. The EOW is now questioning how such a large amount could have been reported when the vaults could hold only about R20 crore combined.

Former CEO Abhimanyu Bhoan, when questioned about the discrepancy, claimed he had no idea how the Rs 133.41 crore figure was arrived at. He stated that if such an amount had been present, he would have invested it. Meanwhile, the EOW has interrogated the bank's auditor, Abhijit Deshmukh, and summoned six other auditors after detecting major inconsistencies in audit records.

Separately, the EOW clarified that Bollywood actress Preity Zinta is not under investigation in connection with the missing Rs 122 crore. This comes after a Twitter account linked to Congress in Kerala alleged that Zinta had handed over her social media accounts to the BJP in exchange for an R18 crore loan write-off, contributing to the bank's collapse.

In response, Zinta denied the allegations, stating, "No, I operate my social media accounts myself, and shame on you for promoting fake news! No loan or write-off was ever issued in my name. Any loan taken was fully repaid over 10 years ago." The EOW stated that if the bank or RBI provides information on any non-performing assets, the investigation will be expanded accordingly. However, at present, Zinta's name has not surfaced in their probe.