The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday superseded the cooperative lender’s board for a year and appointed an administrator to manage its affairs.
New India Coop Bank update: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is reportedly planning to give some relief to customers of New India Co-Operative Bank. The central bank has imposed business restrictions on the Mumbai-headquartered bank and has superseded the lender’s board citing governance lapses.
Now, reports suggest that RBI may allow depositors of the troubled New India Co-operative Bank to withdraw funds in case of personal or medical emergencies. But no official statement has been issued by the bank in this regard.
Meanwhile, the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai police is probing the case. According to officials, New India Coop Bank’s ex-general manager, Hitesh Mehta, used to call two staffers, instructing them to hand over Rs 50 lakh at a time from the bank’s safes to persons he sent.
Mehta and real estate developer Dharmesh Paun have been in custody since Sunday in connection with the alleged embezzlement of Rs 122 crore from the bank that was uncovered following an inspection by the Reserve Bank of India.
As per the police, Devarshi Ghosh, the bank’s acting chief executive officer, lodged a complaint against Mehta and others at the Dadar police station in central Mumbai on Friday last for alleged misappropriation of the lender’s funds.
Based on the complaint, the police registered a case in the early hours of Saturday, and the probe was transferred to the EOW.
The complainant alleged that Mehta and his associates hatched a conspiracy and embezzled Rs 122 crore from the safes of Prabhadevi and Goregaon offices (in Mumbai) of the bank.
A case under sections 316 (5) (criminal breach of trust by public servants, bankers, and others in positions of trust) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered.
A day prior to that, the RBI imposed several restrictions on the lender, including on the withdrawal of funds by depositors, citing supervisory concerns emanating from the recent material developments in the bank, and to protect the interest of its depositors.
