Since people like Amar Mulchandani, former chairman of Seva Vikas Cooperative Bank does incalculable damage to the image of the co-op sector and it is necessary for the sector to take note and remove such elements before it is too late. The ED has attached assets worth over Rs 122 crore of various accused, including that of a former chairman of Pune-based Seva Vikas Cooperative Bank and promoter of an education group for alleged bank fraud, media reports say.
When the fraud surfaced, the joint registrar of co-ops carried out an audit which revealed that Seva Vikas co-op bank management indulged in gross fraud and misappropriation of Rs 429.6 crore across 124 NPA loan accounts. Mulchandani was arrested by police last year but he got bail after spending six months in jail. Mulchandani had joined the BJP in 2016.
Amar Mulchandani, former chairman of Seva Vikas Cooperative Bank is accused of running the affairs of the UCB like a family business. The ED has issued a provisional order for attaching 47 immovable properties worth Rs 121.81 crore located in Pune. Movable assets of Rs 54.25 lakh belonging to Devi Concrete Products are also being attached.
Earlier, Pune Police filed an FIR against the Rosary Education group, its promoters and others with regard to an alleged loan fraud. Later, additional FIRs were registered against the loan beneficiaries and bank management including its ex-chairman Amar Mulchandani.
The ED’s investigation into the money laundering aspect of the Seva Vikas Cooperative Bank loan fraud case has revealed that the bank was run like a family proprietorship without following any prudent financial norms and loans were sanctioned without viable security and without ascertaining the credit-worthiness of the applicants in return for massive kickbacks.
More than 92 per cent of the loan accounts turned into non-performing assets (NPA) and the bank went bankrupt, the agency had stated. The case took a curious turn when the agency officials arrested one Babu Sonkar, an employee of Mulchandani as he was frequently lurking around the ED office premises. A Data entry operator of ED office and one more contractual staff was arrested for leaking the information to Mulchandani family members.
Mulchandani and five of his family members were arrested by police for obstructing government servants from discharging their duties.
Through a letter dated October 10, 2022 the Reserve Bank of India cancelled the licence of “The Seva Vikas Co-operative Bank Ltd., Pune, Maharashtra.” Consequently, the bank ceased to carry on banking business, with effect from the close of business on October 10, 2022.