MUMBAI: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has issued a look-out circular against Malad businessman Unnathan Arunachalam alias Arunbhai, who allegedly received Rs 40 crore from New India Cooperative Bank’s general manager and head of accounts Hitesh Mehta, arrested in the Rs 122-crore scam.
“When we asked Mehta about who he had given bank funds to, he said that he gave Rs 40 crore to Arunbhai. Our team visited Arunbhai’s Malwani residence, but he was not there,” said a police source. “We are questioning Mehta as to why he gave money to him.”
Following a complaint filed by Devarshi Shishirkumar Ghosh, the acting chief accounting officer of New India Cooperative Bank, Dadar police registered an FIR in the case.
Mehta (57) was arrested on Saturday. Later, Dharmesh Paun (57), the director of Om Sai Saburi and Dharmesh Realtors LLP, was arrested. He has been accused of taking a ‘loan’ of Rs 70 crore and defaulting on the payment. However, during the preliminary investigation, Paun denied the allegations.
According to a police source, “Mehta bought a flat from Paun in 2016. We learnt that Mehta used to take cash from his office in a bag, keep it in his car, and go home. He would hand over the cash to a neighbour, who was Paun’s employee, who then gave it to the builder. Mehta’s neighbour will be a witness in the case,” an officer said. This way, Mehta delivered money to Paun on at least 100 occasions. Mehta later sold his flat and shifted to another building.
When asked about the nature of the deal for giving the Rs 70-crore ‘loan’ to Paun, an EOW source said that Mehta was to get a flat in Paun’s redevelopment project in Charkop, for which he sought money. Paun got a letter of intent from the SRA in 2022. Police are questioning Mehta if he was to get some quid pro quo for helping Paun.
The EOW is also looking into the role of the bank auditors. It is also probing a construction contractor who got Rs 2 crore in his account from Paun.
New India Cooperative Bank has 28 branches in Maharashtra and Gujarat and around 1.3 lakh depositors. The Rs 122 crore is 5% of the bank’s deposits, said police.
Mehta and Paun are in police custody until Feb 21.
