MUMBAI: Loans advanced by New India Cooperative Bank from 2010, which turned into Non-Performing Assets (NPA), are being investigated as part of the probe into the scheduled bank. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police investigating the case said they have a list of the NPAs and settled loan accounts. They said Bollywood actor and entrepreneur Preity Zinta’s name figures in the list.
“After we registered a preliminary enquiry on an application received from Dadar resident Sachidanand Shetty, we wrote to the bank asking for details regarding all NPA loan accounts of the bank since 2010,” said a senior EOW officer.
He said the bank’s acting CEO, Devarshi Ghosh, has submitted the details sought, and that Zinta had been sanctioned a loan of ₹18 crore on January 7, 2011. The loan was declared an NPA on March 31, 2013, the NPA sum being ₹11.47 crore. She settled the account by paying ₹10.74 crore on April 5, 2014, with the total remission amount being ₹1.55 crore,” said the EOW officer.
In response to allegations that surfaced last month regarding her loans taken from the bank, Zinta had said on February 25, “For the record, a loan was taken and fully paid back – over 10 years ago. Hope this clarifies and helps so there are no misunderstandings in the future.” She added, “More than 12 years ago, I had an overdraft facility with the New India Cooperative Bank. More than 10 years ago, I repaid in full the entire dues in respect of this overdraft facility, and the account stands closed.”
The police officer said a forensic auditor is being appointed to study the list of NPAs, including details such as whether due diligence was followed while sanctioned the loans.
“Shetty’s written complaint alleged that Hiren Bhanu, former chairman of the bank, had filled the board with his cronies to gain full control over the bank. With the help of the then CEO, he allegedly extended loans worth ₹400 crore to people who allegedly gave him kickbacks, and most of these loans have become NPAs,” said the police officer.
Shetty further alleged that after Bhanu was barred by the Reserve Bank of India, he appointed his wife Gauri as vice-chairperson of the bank. Once the loans became NPAs, loans were extended further to conceal the NPAs. The money was allegedly transferred to the United Kingdom or the United Arab Emirates, where Bhanu has real-estate firms, the officer revealed.
Bhanu, through his counsel, advocate Sajjal Yadav has denied all the allegations and claims he is innocent.
Eight people have been arrested so far, including the bank’s general manager (accounts), Hitesh Mehta, who handled the bank’s vaults. Mehta is accused to spiriting away ₹122 crore of the banks’ cash reserves.
The EOW will be conducting a brain mapping procedure on Mehta on Friday. “We have carried out a polygraph test on him but his answers are deceptive and it seems he is hiding something,” said the police officer.