The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has arrested Hitesh Mehta, the General Manager and Head of Accounts of New India Co-operative Bank, in connection with a ₹122 crore financial scam. Mehta is accused of embezzling funds from the bank’s Dadar and Goregaon branches. He will be presented before the court on Sunday.
The case was registered at Dadar Police Station based on a complaint filed by Devashree Ghosh (48), the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the bank, who resides on Veer Nariman Road in Worli. The FIR has been lodged under sections 316(5) and 61(2) of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Ganesh Gawde confirmed that the case has been transferred to the Economic Offences Wing for further investigation.
Following the detection of financial irregularities, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed restrictions on the bank’s operations from February 13. As a result, customers are prohibited from withdrawing money from any branch of the bank. The RBI has initiated a detailed audit of the bank’s financial status. The revelation that GM Hitesh Mehta allegedly embezzled ₹122 crore has caused a stir in banking and financial circles.
According to sources, the fraudulent withdrawals were made from the bank’s Dadar and Goregaon branches. Hitesh Mehta is accused of misappropriating a total of ₹122 crore. The New India Co-operative Bank operates 28 branches and serves lakhs of customers.
As per the police investigation, Hitesh Mehta, along with other accomplices, hatched a criminal conspiracy and breached the bank’s trust. In his capacity as General Manager and Head of Accounts, he allegedly misused his authority to embezzle ₹122 crore from the cash reserves held in the bank’s Prabhadevi and Goregaon offices.
Further investigation into the scam is underway, and the authorities are probing the involvement of other officials.