Daijiworld Media Network- Mumbai
Mumbai, Feb 26: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has uncovered a major financial fraud at New India Cooperative Bank’s Prabhadevi branch, where the cash-in-hand records falsely showed Rs 122.028 cr, despite the vault having a capacity of only Rs 10 cr, officials said on Tuesday.
The case came to light after an inspection by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on February 11, which revealed a huge cash shortfall in the bank’s vaults. The EOW has arrested three individuals, including two former top executives of the bank, in connection with the fraud.
During the RBI’s inspection, the bank’s balance sheet showed a total of Rs 133.41 cr in the safes of its Prabhadevi and Goregaon branches, with Rs 122.028 cr allegedly stored at Prabhadevi alone. However, upon physical verification, only Rs 60 lakh was found at the branch, while Rs 10.53 cr was found at Goregaon.
Both branches had vaults with a maximum cash-holding capacity of Rs 10 cr each, raising serious concerns over financial mismanagement.
The EOW has summoned representatives of six auditing firms that reviewed the bank’s accounts between 2019 and 2024, the period during which the alleged fraud took place. Officials are questioning why auditors failed to raise red flags over the missing cash.
The initial audit was conducted by M/s Sanjay Rane Associates, and partner Abhijeet Deshmukh has been questioned for the last four days. Now, the EOW has also summoned Sanjay Rane, another partner in the firm, for further inquiry.
All auditing firms linked to the bank will be called for questioning from Wednesday onwards, an official said. If necessary, the EOW will conduct a forensic audit of the bank’s records to track the misappropriation of funds.
The EOW has arrested three individuals in connection with the scam:
Abhimanyu Bhoan – Former CEO of the bank
Hitesh Mehta – Ex-general manager
Dharmesh Paun – A real estate developer
Officials claim Bhoan signed off on all audit reports and balance sheets, despite being aware of the missing funds, making him a key conspirator.
The fraud came to light after Devarshi Ghosh, the bank’s acting CEO, lodged a police complaint against Mehta and others nearly two weeks ago. Based on his complaint, the case was registered under Sections 316(5) (criminal breach of trust by bankers) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Following the exposure of the scam, the RBI has taken strict action by superseding the bank’s board for a year and appointing an administrator to oversee its operations. The EOW continues its probe, aiming to recover the missing funds and bring all those involved to justice.