Seva Vikas Bank loan fraud: Maharashtra CID arrests Vinay Aranha

CID chief Prashant Burde confirmed that they have taken Aranha and co-accused Sagar Suryanwashi into custody from ED.

The duo was produced before a court in Shivajinagar, Pune at 12.30 am on Friday that remanded them in five-day CID custody.

“There are multiple cases lodged against the accused persons. Of these, one financial fraud case is being investigated by the CID. The Bombay High Court had quashed the First Information Report (FIR) in this case, but an appeal was made in the Supreme Court. After the apex court ordered in favour of the appeal, CID has started probing the FIR. Aranha and Suryawanshi have been arrested and further investigation is on,” said Burde.

The Seva Vikas Cooperative bank which is headquartered in Pimpri has 25 branches and around one lakh depositors. In June 2021, the Reserve Bank of India appointed an administrator following multiple cases that were filed by depositors over 2019 and 2020 and subsequent arrests of some its office-bearers.

While appointing the administrator, the RBI had said, “As can be seen from the financial position of the bank from March 31, 2018 to March 31, 2021, the percentage of gross and net NPA and CD Ratio are at alarmingly high level. Further, the bank itself had reported losses for two years consecutively i.e. for financial position as on March 31, 2020 and March 31, 2021. The net worth of the bank had declined sharply from Rs 88.50 crore as on March 31, 2018, to Rs 50.28 crore as on March 31, 2021. There had been fast and continuous depletion in deposits of the bank and it indicated loss of customers’ confidence in the affairs of the bank.”

In 2020, the Maharashtra government appointed an auditor to probe the alleged irregularities in disbursing loans to some particular entities. The auditor submitted its report the same year, based on which the Pimpri Chinchwad police set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the alleged scam. The probe revealed alleged irregularities in 124 loan disbursements to the tune of Rs 429 crore. Multiple FIRs were lodged in connection with the scam.

The Enforcement Directorate that launched an investigation into this case conducted searches linked to Amar Mulchandani, a former chairman of the bank, and other accused persons in January 2023.

During the probe, the ED attached 47 immovable properties in Pune and movable assets worth Rs 122.35 crore belonging to Mulchandani, Vivek Aranha, Sagar Suryawanshi and others as well as their family members and entities.

Earlier, the Pune city police arrested Aranha for allegedly assisting drug racketeer Lalit Patil to escape from the police custody from the Sassoon General Hospital last year.