Ex-directors of New India Cooperative Bank claim they were unaware of fund embezzlement

Mumbai, Mar 3 (PTI) At least a half dozen former directors of New India Cooperative Bank have told investigators during an ongoing probe that they were unaware about the alleged Rs 122-crore embezzlement at the fraud-hit lender, Mumbai police officials said on Monday.

These directors have claimed they had no role in the alleged fraud which came to light last month, they said.

The Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW), probing the alleged illegal withdrawal of Rs 122 crore from the bank's treasury over five years since 2020, had summoned seven former directors of the bank as part of its probe.

These included Frederick D'Sa, Gauri Hiren Bhanu, Kurush Paghdiwalla, Milan Kothary, Shiv Kathuria, Viren Barot, and Vinit Upadhyay, an official said.

Gauri Bhanu, who once headed the bank, is shown as an wanted accused in the case along with her husband Hiren Bhanu, a former chairman, he said.

Of the seven directors covered as part of the probe, 6 have told the EOW they were unaware of the embezzlement of cash from the bank for which former General Manager Hiten Mehta and ex-CEO Abhimanyu Bhoan are among four persons arrested so far, according to the official.

Some of them have recorded their statements before police, he said.

During the inquiry, they claimed the CEO and other accused persons used to show them audit reports and used to tell them everything in the bank was "fine", the official said.

The EOW has also arrested Manohar Arunachalam, son of a wanted accused, businessman Unnathan Arunachalam alias Arunbhai, in connection with the case, he said.

Police have found that Mehta had given Rs 40 crore to Unnathan Arunachalam and his son Manohar from the embezzled cash. During the investigation, it came to light this amount was deposited in the account of Manohar Arunachalam-led firm Magas Consultancy and then routed back to Mehta, the official informed.

Manohar Arunachalam has claimed he had given an unsecured loan to Mehta, he said, adding the EOW is verifying the claim.

The EOW also wrote to the RBI seeking to understand what prompted them to initiate an inspection of New India Cooperative Bank last month, he said.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a slew of restrictions on New India Cooperative Bank in mid-February after the fraud came to light. Some of these restrictions were later relaxed by the regulator.

So far, four persons have been declared wanted in the case, including former top executives of the bank, Bhanu Hiren and his wife Gauri. While Bhanu Hiren left the country on January 26, his wife Gauri fled on February 10, days before the scam came to light, according to the official.

Bhanu Hiren was in Abu Dhabi in the UAE, while Gauri was in a South Asian country, the official said. PTI DC RSY

Source: PTI