Hitesh Mehta Former General Manager Got arrested
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police on Saturday arrested Hitesh Mehta, former general manager and accounts head of the city-based New India Cooperative Bank, in connection with a Rs 122-crore money embezzlement case. Mehta will be produced in court tomorrow. The EOW also raided his Dahisar residence and seized some documents.
This case was registered two days after the Reserve Bank of India imposed restrictions on the bank over alleged financial irregularities. Mehta was booked after the bank’s chief executive officer Debashi Shishir Kumar Ghosh (48) filed a complaint against him, police said.
Ghosh said in his police complaint that Mehta and his accomplice (yet to be named) were trusted employees of the bank and the cash kept in the vaults at the bank’s Prabhadevi and Goregaon offices was in their safe custody. But the two allegedly made a conspiracy and embezzled about Rs 122 crore. this scam took place between year2020 year 2025.
The EOW had recently received a complaint from the bank about alleged financial irregularities. On Friday, EOW officials recorded the statement of a senior bank official, registered an FIR at the Dadar police station, and then took over the investigation.
The FIR was registered under sections 316(5) (criminal breach of trust by a public servant or a banker, merchant, broker, solicitor or agent) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (BNS).
Depositors Concern
On Friday, thousands of panicked depositors queued up in front of the bank’s branches wanting to know if their money was safe and if they could withdraw it.
RBI Restrictions and Actions on Bank
The RBI restrictions mean the bank cannot issue new loans, make investments, borrow money, or allow withdrawals for six months due to concerns over its financial stability. the bank’s board of directors are superseded by RBI for 12 months, citing poor governance.
The RBI has appointed Shrikant, former chief general manager of the State Bank of India (SBI), as administrator to manage the affairs of the bank. Additionally, a committee of advisors has been constituted to assist him, the RBI said. The RBI directed the loss-making bank not to grant or renew any loans or advances, make any investment, incur any liability including borrowing of money and accepting fresh deposits, make or agree to make any payment in discharge of its liabilities and obligations without the prior approval of the RBI in writing.
The RBI restrictions came into effect after the close of business on February 13 and will remain valid for six months. With 30 branches all over India New India Cooperative Bank and a deposit base of Rs 2,436 crore as of March 2024. The bank had reported a loss of Rs 22.78 crore in 2023-24 and Rs 30.74 crore in 2022-23.