Home department goes after credit society directors to recover defrauded funds

Hindustan Times

10 hours ago

Mumbai: The state home department has ordered the attachment of properties of 18 persons accused in a ₹33.95-crore scam in Jaimuni Cooperative Patpedhi Limited, a Vasai-based credit society. Apartments, land parcels and commercial properties owned by the accused – including developers, businessmen and directors and office-bearers of the credit society – will be auctioned to recover the deposits of account holders in the credit society, as per the notification issued by the home department last week.
The notification was issued under sections 4(1) and 5(1) of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act, 1999, which authorise the government to recover the amount defrauded from depositors by selling properties of the accused including directors and employees of financial institutions.
The notification was issued after the economic offences wing of the Mira-Bhayandar Vasai-Virar police and the Palghar collector submitted reports on properties of the accused to the home department. The reports were submitted following directions from the special MPID court in Palghar which is hearing the case.
Properties that will be attached include 17 flats and two houses of Jaywant Naik, the main accused; 6.11 acres of land belonging to developer Avinash Dhole; and an apartment owned by businessman Mintu Shah. The list also includes residential apartments of the credit society's former chief executive officer Rajesh Rawal; former chairman Vasant Naik and his son Swapnil Naik; deputy chairman Nitin Patil; directors Krishna Naik, Kumar Naik, Pratibha Naik, Surendra Raut, Vasant Joshi, Hemlata Naik, Manohar Patil and Vijay Baswant; and employee Manisha Mhatre.
The properties will be attached and auctioned by the sub-divisional officer of Palghar, who has been appointed as competent authority in the case, said a senior official from the home department.
'The valuation of the properties has been done by the Collector's office,' the official said. The money recovered from the auction will be distributed among 408 depositors who cumulatively lost ₹33.95 crore, in keeping with their investments, the official noted.
'The home department is also planning to amend the MPID Act to hike the penalty and imprisonment for the accused from the existing ₹1 lakh fine and/ or six years of imprisonment,' he said.
The scam came to light in June 2018 after depositors filed complaints regarding Jaimuni Cooperative Patpedhi Limited not returning their deposits. The credit society's financial troubles began after some directors approved loans to purchase 159 flats in buildings owned by Avinash Dhole and other builders. While many of the flats had already been mortgaged by their original buyers, fresh loans were advanced in the name of local vegetable vendors via collusion between Dhole, Jaywant Naik and Mintu Shah, who produced forged documents, and Vasant Naik, Nitin Patil and Rajesh Rawal, who approved the loans.
Rajesh Naik, director of the reconstituted board of Jaimuni Cooperative Patpedhi Limited, said some former directors of the society were directly involved in the scam while others were guilty of omission of duty and did not secure any financial benefits.
'Our management analysed 3,800 transactions to establish the money trail which helped the investigating agency frame charges,' said Naik.
The reconstituted credit society has been allotted A grade in its audit.