Rs 122 crore New India co-op bank scam: Rs 45 crore diverted to bank's then chairman's overseas entities, says ED
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is carrying out a money laundering probe into the Rs 122-crore New India Co-operative Bank embezzlement case, said on Friday Rs 45 crore was diverted to the bank's former chairman Hiren Bhanu's overseas entities.
The ED on Thursday conducted searches at seven premises in Mumbai and Gujarat as part of its probe. During the searches, incriminating documents, including property-related documents and valuables of around Rs 1 crore, were seized, the agency said. The documents revealed diversion of bank funds from those loan accounts which later turned NPA into Bhanu's overseas entities, ED sources said.
'Details and documents of such transactions amounting to more than Rs 45 crore sent to foreign entities related to Hiren Bhanu have been ascertained, which are being examined,' the ED stated in a statement on Friday.
The ED began probing the case after embezzled cash amounting to Rs 122 crore of the New India Co-operative Bank was unearthed by the RBI.
Mumbai Police EOW is already investigating fraud charges and arrested eight persons in the case, including alleged mastermind, the bank's former GM Hitesh Mehta. Hiren Bhanu and his wife Gauri, who is the bank's vice-chairperson, are also wanted in the case and have been declared proclaimed offenders by a Mumbai court.
EOW also did a brain-mapping test of Mehta. 'The results of the test indicate his role and the role of other accused such as Hiren Bhanu, bank's former CEO Abhimanyu Bhoan, Mehta's friends Arunachalam Ullahanathan Maruthuvar, Dharmesh Paun and others in the scam,' a senior EOW officer said. The results of the brain-mapping test, however, cannot be used as direct evidence against Mehta and the other accused. It can be only used to further the investigation.
'My clients are not aware of the ED action. The funds received by Bhanu in his overseas companies were in his routine course of business and have no nexus with banking operations or theft of Rs 122 crore from the bank. Hiten Mehta in connivance with auditors has physically stolen cash from bank that was not even noticed by RBI-nominated members on the board of the bank since last few years. Bhanus have addressed multiple letters to EOW to examine them on VC (video conferencing), to which EOW has not responded. No summons have been received from ED,' lawyer for Hiren Bhanu and his wife Gauri stated.
Mehta allegedly embezzled money from the bank's safe from 2019 to 2025 and handed it over to Paun and Maruthuvar. Police said after the fraud was uncovered during an RBI inspection at the bank's Prabhadevi and Goregaon branches on February 12, Mehta confessed to the crime and revealed the roles of the other accused. The other accused arrested are Bhoan, Maruthuvar's son Manohar and Kapil Dedhia.
EOW has already initiated the process of attaching 21 immovable properties worth approximately Rs 168 crore belonging to five key accused in the case. EOW is also conducting a preliminary enquiry (PE) into allegations of NPAs worth over ₹400 crore. The complaint claims the bank continued disbursing loans to defaulting accounts despite repeated non-payments.
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