A major financial scam has been exposed at New India Cooperative Bank in Mumbai, where the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) discovered a shocking ₹122 crore cash shortfall. The irregularities came to light during a routine audit by RBI officials at the bank’s corporate office in Prabhadevi and its Goregaon branch.
How RBI discoverer the Cash shortfall?
According to a senior bank employee’s statement, accessed by India Today TV, RBI officials conducted an inspection on February 12. The team included Deputy General Manager (DGM) Ravindran and officer Sanjay Kumar. The bank’s General Manager (GM), Assistant General Manager (AGM), and Head of Accounts, Hitesh Mehta, were also present during the audit.
The officials first checked the bank’s main safe, located on the third floor of the Prabhadevi office. Employee Atul Mhatre provided the keys to access it. Meanwhile, another RBI team inspected the Goregaon branch’s safe. After several hours of counting, the officials discovered a major difference between the actual cash available and the amount recorded in the bank’s books
Later that day, RBI officials summoned the bank’s senior employees and revealed that ₹122 crore in cash was missing. They warned the staff of serious consequences if they failed to disclose the whereabouts of the missing money.
“We were all shocked and didn’t know what to say. The RBI officials informed us that ₹122 crore was missing from the bank’s safe, and there were additional shortages at the Goregaon branch,” the complainant’s statement read. The officials also allowed further communication via email if needed.
Following this, Hitesh Mehta was called for a private discussion with the RBI team. During this meeting, he allegedly confessed to siphoning off the cash. When questioned, Mehta admitted that he had distributed the money to people known to him and had started embezzling funds during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Police Investigation and Arrest
The case was initially registered by the Dadar Police before being handed over to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police for further investigation. On Saturday, EOW officials raided Mehta’s residence in Dahisar and arrested him.
The investigation is ongoing, with authorities examining Mehta’s financial transactions and identifying possible accomplices in the fraud. The case has raised serious concerns about banking security and fraud prevention measures.