Image Source : PTI New India Cooperative Bank GM Hitesh Mehta arrested.
New India Cooperative Bank GM Hitesh Mehta arrested by Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police on Saturday in a fraud case. Earlier in the day, the EOW officers interrogated Hitesh in the fraud case. Notably, Hitesh Mehta’s medical check-up has been done by the police on the charge of New India cooperative bank scam.
Hitesh Mehta’s lawyer Chandrakant Ambani said that his client is being framed as he has not embezzled any money. He stated that no irregularities were found in the bank’s balance sheet and annual audit report till 2024, hence, how can the senior officials of the bank who signed the audit report say that this corruption or embezzlement happened from 2020 till now?
It is significant to note that Hitesh Mehta has been accused of embezzling Rs 122 crore from the Mumbai-based bank. And in this regard, a case was registered against him on the basis of a complaint filed by the bank’s Chief Accounts Officer at Dadar police station.
In the complaint, it was alleged that the former general manager withdrew Rs 122 crore from the treasury from the Dadar and Goregaon branches of the bank and was responsible for overseeing these branches during his tenure. These fraud cases allegedly took place between 2020 and 2025 as Mehta was expected to retire in 2026.
The development comes as the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police on Saturday started investigating the alleged irregularities in the New India Cooperative Bank. The bank representative has made a complaint about the same to the EOW, following which his statement was recorded.
On February 14, the Reserve Bank of India superseded the Board of Directors of New India Cooperative Bank Ltd, Mumbai, for a period of 12 months, the central bank said in a statement on Friday, a day after it imposed several restrictions on the lender.
Consequently, the RBI has appointed Shreekant, former Chief General Manager of State Bank of India (SBI) as ‘Administrator’ to manage the affairs of the bank during this period. The RBI has also appointed a ‘Committee of Advisors’ to assist the Administrator in discharging his duties. The members of the Committee of Advisors are Ravindra Sapra (former General Manager, SBI) and Abhijeet Deshmukh (Chartered Accountant).
The action was necessitated “due to certain material concerns emanating from poor governance standards observed” in the Mumbai-headquartered New India Cooperative Bank Ltd.’
On Friday morning, customers gathered in hundreds outside Mumbai-headquartered New India Co-operative Bank Limited branches to withdraw their hard-earned savings, soon after the Reserve Bank of India imposed several restrictions on the lender.
