Cooperative Banks image was dashed when the chairman of the Pen Cooperative Bank, Shishir Dharkar, his wife and six others were arrested on Thursday in connection with a Rs 480-crore gold export fraud.
Some exporters took an advance from MSTC Limited, a government of India enterprise for export of gold, but allegedly usurped the amount and deposited the amount in the Pen Urban Cooperative Bank and later used some of it to buy property in and around Pen.
Pen bank’s director, Prem Kumar Sharma, Jayesh Desai, director of Joshi Bullion Gems and Jewellery Private Limited, Rahis Ahmed, partner in Strategic Consultancy, and R Mani, proprietor of Great Aid were also arrested along with Dharkar’s wife, Gulraihna Oomer, a Bahrain national.
Sharma, Ahmed and Mani allegedly acted as agents between the exporters and MSTC. The special judge for CBI cases on Friday remanded the accused into CBI custody until December 6.