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ED arrests former Pune ZP chairman in ₹494cr bank fraud case
The ED had initiated its investigation in the case under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), based on a first information report (FIR) registered by Pune’s Shivajinagar police station in 2020
Former chairman of Pune Zilla Parishad Mangaldas Bandal was on Tuesday arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an alleged ₹494-crore fraud at Pune’s Shivajirao Bhosale Sahakari Bank. The agency also seized cash worth ₹25 lakh and froze fixed deposits worth ₹50 lakh during searches conducted at Bandal’s premises on Tuesday.
The ED had initiated its investigation in the case under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), based on a first information report (FIR) registered by Pune’s Shivajinagar police station in 2020. The FIR was based on a complaint filed by the statutory auditor of Shivajirao Bhosale Sahakari Bank.
ED’s investigation revealed that several persons had committed the fraud through a range of irregularities, including siphoning off cash from the bank without any official entry/ record in the core banking system and transferring funds to their own or related parties’ accounts. The accused were also involved in fraudulent disbursal and diversion of loan funds by “key managerial persons” of the bank and by a few others, said sources.
ED officials scrutinised various documents, financial transactions, and lockers at Bandal’s residence during the raids.
“The ED probe revealed that bogus cheque-discounting facilities were carried out to reduce the bank’s non-performing assets,” said an ED official. “Key managerial persons of the bank treated the bank and its funds as their family concern and utilised the siphoned funds for personal gains.”
During searches conducted in February last year, the ED had provisionally attached 23 properties worth ₹26.60 crore belonging to persons under the scanner in the case including Anil Bhosale, Suryaji Jadhav, Nusrat Mujawar and Anil Bhosale. Equity holdings worth ₹1.06 crore in Bhosale’s demat account was also seized during the searches. The ED’s probe revealed that Bhosale, Jadhav, and Late Shanur Akbar Mujawar were the major beneficiaries of the fraud.
A wrestler turned politician, Bandal has been previously booked in four other offences and was in jail in the land fraud case. In the past, police had also invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against him for threatening a businessman by using a firearm.
The ED action ahead of the assembly polls is a significant development, as Bandal was keen to contest the elections from Shirur.
