While hearing a bunch of petitions on the Pen Urban Cooperative Bank scam where investors lost around Rs 630 crore, the Bombay High Court said the depositors were the worst affected as they lost all their life’s earnings, reports Indian Express.
The court further said it would see how the accused could be punished and if the bank could be revived and not dismantled with its assets being sold off.
The court directed the competent authority to immediately take steps towards attachment of properties while asking for a list of all those investors who lost less than Rs 1 lakh, terming them the worst-hit of the lot, the court said.
Special Public Prosecutor Pradip Gharat said an audit had exposed the fake figures of profit presented by the bank. The Pen Co-operative Urban Bank was set up in 1935 and was duly registered under the provisions of Maharashtra Co-operative Sector Act, 1960.
At present, the bank has 18 branches, of which three are operating in Mumbai while the rest are in the district of Raigad, where the bank had originated.