New India Co-op Bank GM and associates face ₹122 crore embezzlement charges

The Mumbai police have registered a case against the New India Cooperative Bank's General Manager and Head of Accounts along with his associates for allegedly embezzling ₹122 crore of funds, officials said on Saturday.

The case has been transferred to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the city police for further investigation, an official said.

The police official said, "Acting Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Devarshi Ghosh, on Friday approached the Dadar police station in central Mumbai and lodged a complaint of misappropriation of funds."

"As per the complaint, the bank's general manager and head of accounts, Hitesh Mehta, along with other associates hatched a conspiracy and embezzled ₹122 crore from the money kept in the safes of Prabhadevi and Goregaon offices of the bank," he said.

Based on the complaint, a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 316 (5) (criminal breach of trust by public servants, bankers, and others in positions of trust), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) was registered against Mehta and others, he said.

Considering the scope of the investigation, the case was then transferred to the EOW, he said, adding that the agency has launched a probe.

Most of the 28 branches of this cooperative bank are located in the Mumbai megapolis, and it also has two branches at Surat in neighbouring Gujarat and one in Pune.