PMLA court refuses to discharge ex-directors in ₹598-crore Pen bank fraud

The two former directors are among 47 people booked in the case, including 25 other directors and senior bank officials

MUMBAI: A special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has refused to discharge two former directors of the Pen Urban Co-operative Bank in the alleged ₹598.72-crore fraud involving bogus loan accounts and large-scale manipulation of financial records.

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Dismissing the discharge pleas filed by Medha Shrikant Deodhar and Prapti Milind Vanage, special judge R B Rote observed that the case involved a “serious economic offence affecting the socio-economic condition of society”. The court noted that members, depositors and investors had collectively suffered losses of over ₹597 crore due to the alleged actions of the accused.

The court held that the material on record showed Deodhar and Vanage were on the bank’s board during the “check period” when the alleged offences occurred. It said the bank’s directors, members of its high-power committee and office bearers allegedly manipulated account books, balance sheets and audit reports, routed funds through bogus loan accounts and defrauded thousands of depositors.

The two former directors are among 47 people booked in the case, including 25 other directors and senior bank officials.

The predicate offence was registered by the Raigad police’s Economic Offences Wing after an auditor detected massive financial irregularities. The audit revealed that in 2008–09 the bank claimed a profit of ₹6.28 crore despite incurring losses of ₹403.18 crore. The following year, it showed a profit of ₹8.47 crore even though losses had escalated to ₹651.35 crore.

Investigators later found that forged loan documents were created in the names of fictitious borrowers, and records were fabricated to show illegal loan disbursements. The bank’s core computer system was also allegedly tampered with to conceal the fraud. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) pegged the total loss to the bank and its 2,01,578 depositors at ₹598.72 crore.

In their discharge pleas, Deodhar and Vanage claimed they were nominal directors appointed by then chairman Shishir Dharkar merely to comply with statutory requirements, and denied having any role in banking operations. They also argued that they, too, were victims of the fraud, having lost deposits of ₹12 lakh and ₹5 lakh respectively.

The court rejected these arguments, noting that the two women served on the board from 1999 to 2008, and that Deodhar was also a member of the bank’s high-power or loan committee at the time 128 bogus loans were sanctioned. Holding that there was sufficient material to proceed against them, the court dismissed their pleas for discharge.