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The Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police on Saturday arrested Hitesh Mehta, the main accused in the case of alleged irregularities in New India Co-operative Bank. At the same time, now the EOW will present Hitesh Mehta for remand in Mumbai’s Holiday Court tomorrow i.e. on Sunday. Hitesh will be questioned on charges of fraud and embezzlement of Rs 122 crore by taking his remand.
At the same time, earlier the EOW had sent a summons to Hitesh Mehta in this case. After this Hitesh reached the EOW office. Where the EOW team questioned him for about three hours on the third floor of the Economic Offenses Wing and then Hitesh was arrested. According to sources, the investigation has found that Hitesh Mehta and his team used to keep the accounts of all the branches of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Embezzlement done between the years 2020 and 2025
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday suspected serious irregularities in the operation of the Mumbai-based New India Co-operative Bank. After this, a business ban was imposed on the bank for the next 6 months. During this time, any new loan issuance or deposit-withdrawal has been banned. According to the information, after the problems faced by the bank and the decision of the RBI, the customers are worried about their money. Crowds of customers are seen outside the bank branches.
According to EOW sources, Hitesh Mehta is not able to answer the questions properly. The officials have a complete questionnaire ready which is based on the FIR lodged at Dadar police station and the statement of New India Co-operative Bank’s acting Chief Executive Officer Debashree Ghosh. Investigation so far has revealed that this financial embezzlement of 122 crores was done between the years 2020 and 2025. This embezzlement was done especially during the time of Kovid.
During interrogation, Hitesh confessed to withdrawing money
The locker of the ‘treasury’ of this cooperative bank is in Prabhadevi and Goregaon. Where this irregularity has happened. There has been a fraud of Rs 112 crore in Prabhadevi and Rs 10 crore from Goregaon. At the same time, Hitesh Mehta had the keys to the treasury of both Prabhadevi and Goregaon branches. Four officials inside the bank are also being investigated in this embezzlement. All four of them used to work with former manager Hitesh Mehta in the accounts department.
According to sources, when the RBI vigilance team investigated the bank’s account details, a discrepancy of Rs 122 crore was found in the cash entry in the records and the cash present in the account. In the interrogation so far, Hitesh Mehta has admitted that he has gradually withdrawn money from the account after Covid. At the same time, the EOW is also trying to find out whether other senior officials of the bank were also involved with Hitesh Mehta?
Will be produced in court for remand tomorrow
In the investigation of the Rs 122 crore financial scam in New India Cooperative Bank, the Economic Offenses Wing detained accused Hitesh Mehta from his NL Copmex house in Dahisar West. Tomorrow he will be presented in Mumbai’s Holiday Court for remand. EOW is investigating this case from the angle of economic crime. It is also being investigated that in how many months Hitesh has committed this embezzlement. How many more people are involved in this.
5 years and embezzlement of 122 crores… Inside story behind bank ban in Maharashtra
The issue of ban imposed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on New India Co-operative Bank of Maharashtra has now gained momentum. Questions are being raised as to what has happened that the bank was suddenly banned. Those who have accounts and money deposited in the bank are now worried. These account holders are not only raising questions on the bank management but also seem angry at the action of RBI. Now the inside story behind the ban imposed on this bank has come to light.
Behind this entire story of banning of New India Co-operative Bank, there is a scam game. The former general manager of New India Co-operative Bank is accused of this. Hitesh Mehta, the former general manager of this bank, is accused of embezzling Rs 122 crore. He has also been arrested. Hitesh Mehta will be produced in the holiday court on Sunday but the troubles of the customers have not reduced. The worried people standing outside the branch are asking what is our fault in this and when will we get our money.
Former GM Hitesh Mehta accused of scam
Former GM Hitesh Mehta is being considered guilty of the scam due to which this bank was banned and the customers’ money got stuck. That is, the general manager on whose trust this bank was, is the accused of the scam. Hitesh Mehta also had the responsibility of accounts department of the bank. In this sense, in a way, Hitesh Mehta used to handle the entire cash of the bank. The work that Hitesh had was to be done very responsibly and honestly, but it is alleged that he misused his position and embezzled Rs 122 crore.
The charges against this former manager of the bank are very serious. According to the complaint, this game of embezzlement of Rs 122 crore happened between the year 2020 and 2025. According to the allegations, this money was withdrawn from the Prabha Devi and Goregaon branches of the bank. In the initial allegations, there is talk of embezzlement of Rs 112 crore from Prabhadevi branch and Rs 10 crore from Goregaon branch.
What is the allegation on the bank?
The allegation is that the money that was withdrawn was from the bank’s reserve fund. However, the timing of the scam in this case is also worth noting. According to the information so far, this game of scam started in the year 2020 i.e. in the Covid period. As soon as a complaint was made regarding this scam, the Economic Offenses Wing of Mumbai Police started the investigation.
Hitesh Mehta was sent a summons, when he arrived to answer the summons, he was taken into custody for questioning. The Economic Offenses Wing team raided his house in Dahisar area of Mumbai. That is, the investigation action has been done very fast and should be done, because this scam is being considered the reason for the deterioration of the condition of New India Co-operative Bank. According to the information, this bank was continuously in loss for the last few years.
When and how many crores of losses?
There was a loss of Rs 23 crore in the financial year 2023-24. Earlier, there was a loss of about Rs 31 crore in 2022-23. When the condition of the bank kept deteriorating, RBI imposed a 6-month ban. By the way, now there is a lot of political rhetoric on this. Leaders have even called it a collusion between RBI and bank management.
On the one hand, the action of the Economic Offenses Wing continued throughout the day regarding the scam. On the other hand, the uproar of those customers whose money is stuck in the bank also continued. A large number of people gathered outside the branches of the bank. These customers looked upset after seeing such a crisis on their life’s hard-earned money. When our correspondent reached among them, many stories of the pain of these account holders came to the fore.
Crisis on lifelong savings
Some were not able to withdraw the money deposited for the education of their children, while some were worried about not having money for treatment. Everyone had only one demand, their money should be given to them in any way. When your life savings are in danger, such a reaction is natural.
Seeing the pain of the customers, political parties say that where is the money you earn by working hard safe? The bank which you consider a safe option and deposit money or keep jewellery in the locker, sometimes the locker is robbed and sometimes the bank itself is banned. In such a situation, the safety of the hard-earned money of the common people must be ensured.
