EOW to RBI: Submit coop bank visit report, GM’s admission video

Mumbai: The city Economic Offences Wing (EOW), probing the alleged misappropriation of Rs 122 crore cash from New India Cooperative Bank, has written to the RBI seeking a report of the day when its officials inspected the bank and found the cash missing. Police have also asked for the recorded video of the bank's general manager and head of accounts, Hitesh Mehta, in which he allegedly admitted his crime.
"We have been told by the complainant that RBI officials had recorded a video of Mehta's admission," said a senior EOW officer.
The misappropriation of funds came to light when a team of RBI officials on Feb 12 inspected New India Cooperative Bank and found Rs 122 crore missing. Dadar police then registered an FIR based on a complaint filed by the bank's acting chief accounting officer Devarshi Ghosh. The case was later transferred to the EOW. So far, the EOW has arrested Mehta (57) and builder Dharmesh Paun (57). They are looking for Malad businessman Unnathan Arunachalam alias Arunbhai, who allegedly received Rs 40 crore from Mehta.
On Wednesday, the EOW questioned New India Cooperative Bank's former chief executive officer Abhimanyu Bhoan and recorded his statement. Now, police have now summoned a chartered accountant, Abhijit Deshmukh, who was the bank's auditor for the 2019-20 period. "We got the audit report of the last five years from the bank today. We are now studying it," said the EOW officer.
Police are likely to file an application before the court on Feb 21, when Mehta and Paun will be produced for a hearing, seeking permission to carry out a lie-detector test on Mehta. A lie-detector test is not admissible evidence during the trial, but it helps investigators to find out the sequence of events in an alleged crime and extract more information. The test can be conducted only if the accused gives his consent.
The bank, with 1.3 lakh depositors, has 28 branches in Maharashtra and Gujarat.