In connection with the ₹122 crore fraud case involving New India Co-operative Bank, the court has remanded Javed Azam to custody till March 24. During the investigation, it was revealed that Javed had received ₹18 crore through one of the accused, Unnathan Arunachalam. Additionally, he also helped Arunachalam hide in Bihar. Sources have disclosed that Javed Azam is the brother of a political leader.
Javed Azam (48), a resident of Malad, runs an electrical goods distribution business. Previously, arrested accused Unnathan Arunachalam was also involved in the electrical goods business, which led to their acquaintance. The father-son duo, Manohar Arunachalam and Unnathan Arunachalam, had allegedly misappropriated a total of ₹33 crore in the scam. In 2019, Hitesh Mehta, the former General Manager of the bank, handed over ₹18 crore to Manohar at an office in Andheri. Unnathan Arunachalam later transferred this amount to Javed Azam.
Javed was also involved in the investment of ₹15 crore received by Arunachalam. After the fraud case was registered, Arunachalam contacted Javed, who then helped him go into hiding in Bihar. Following these revelations, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) arrested Javed on Monday.
The case was initially registered at Dadar Police Station based on a complaint by interim CEO Devashree Ghosh under IPC Sections 316(5) and 61(2). The Economic Offences Wing had earlier arrested Hitesh Mehta for the ₹122 crore bank fraud. Following his interrogation, the police also arrested real estate businessman Dharmesh Paun.
Additionally, the bank’s former CEO, Abhimanyu Bhuvan, was also arrested in connection with the scam. Recently, three more accused—Manohar Arunachalam, Kapil Dedhia, and Unnathan Arunachalam—were taken into custody. Meanwhile, two other suspects, Hiren Bhanu and Gauri Bhanu, are currently abroad. The police have issued a lookout notice against them.