ED attaches properties worth ₹234 crore of former MLA Vivekanand Patil

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached immovable properties worth ₹234 crore of Vivekanand Shankar Patil, a former member of legislative assembly (MLA) and former chairman of Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank Limited, in connection with an alleged fraud of around ₹560 crore.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached immovable properties worth ₹234 crore of Vivekanand Shankar Patil, a former member of legislative assembly (MLA) and former chairman of Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank Limited, in connection with an alleged fraud of around ₹560 crore. The attached properties include Karnala sports academy and several land parcels.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested former MLA Vivekanand Shankar Patil, in connection with Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank fraud case in June. (HT FILE)

ED arrested Patil in June in the case and filed a charge sheet on August 12. Patil is a four-term MLA from Panvel constituency from Peasants and Workers Party of India and was chairman of the bank, which has its headquarters in Panvel.

The probing agency started the investigation on the basis of case registered by the economic offences wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police in 2019. The fraud came to light after an audit was done at the instance of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2019-20, when it was revealed that Patil was siphoning funds from the bank through 63 fictitious loan accounts to Karnala Charitable Trust and Karnala Sports Academy, which were founded and controlled by Patil, said an ED officer.

In March 2019, RBI had flagged 58 suspicious accounts in the bank and instructed the Commissioner for Cooperation and Registrar, Cooperative Societies (CC and RCS) to look into the accounts. The special audit was initiated by a government auditor who submitted his report to CC and RCS, Maharashtra. As the audit report revealed that since 2013, Patil allegedly created several fake bank accounts to facilitate at least 63 loans to bogus firms and persons without any valid documentation, a case was lodged.

As per the complaint, the accounts which were granted loans were either of Patil’s close friends or relatives. The loan limit to these accounts was increased gradually and the sanctioned loan amount was diverted to Karnala Charitable Trust and Karnala Sports Academy.

Investigations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) revealed that the defrauded amount was to the tune of approximately ₹560 crore including interest. These funds were utilised by Karnala Charitable Trust, Karnala Sports Academy and others for construction of properties such as sports complex, college and schools and for other personal gains.