E-Paper
No fraud, just irregularities: Ex-MLA on Karnala bank scam
The former member of legislative assembly(MLA) from Panvel, Vivekanand Patil, who was booked by the Navi Mumbai Police three days ago for embezzling ~ 513 crore
The former member of legislative assembly(MLA) from Panvel, Vivekanand Patil, who was booked by the Navi Mumbai Police three days ago for embezzling ~ 513 crore from Karnala Nagari cooperative bank into two institutions owned by him, admitted to diverting the funds on Thursday but said there were “irregularities” and no fraud in the dealings.
Patil also said he is ready to pay back the depositors by mortgaging his properties.
Patil and 75 others, including many Karnala Nagari Bank officials, were booked on Monday on charges of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy following a special district audit report.
The Navi Mumbai crime branch, currently investigating the multi-crore scam said that as per the report, Patil is the founder-chairman of the bank.
“There are irregularities but there is no fraud. I take the responsibility of the irregularities. There is an irregularity of ~470 crore. I have started a process to mortgage my ~ 550 crore-worth properties to repay the depositors,” Patil said on Thursday.
When asked about the allegations of the money being diverted into his trust funds, Patil admitted to those too. “I had a dream to send at least one player to the Olympics. Whenever we were short of money, I used the loans to invest money in the academy. The money is not spent for my personal gain but it is safe in those properties,” he said.
