Jai Hind graft: Ashok Advani held

The Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai police arrested former director of Jai Hind Co-operative Bank and publishing magnate Ashok Advani on Tu...

The Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai police arrested former director of Jai Hind Co-operative Bank and publishing magnate Ashok Advani on Tuesday evening at its Crawford Market headquarters in connection with alleged siphoning off Rs 36 crore from the accounts of the charitable educational trust, Hyderabad Sind National Collegiate Board.

Last Saturday, the bank8217;s general manager J.K. Lalchandani was arrested in the same case. Advani was the former Chairman of the educational board and was instrumental in depositing the trust8217;s money in Jai Hind Co-operative Bank which is now under liquidation. 8216;8216;He is under arrest,8217;8217; Joint Commissioner of Police Crime, Meera Borwankar told The Indian Express. Besides Advani and Lalchandani, the trust has accused Hiroo Advani, a director of BITV and Arjan Gurbaxani, Chairman of Jai-Hind bank for siphoning off funds from its accounts maintained in Jai-Hind Bank. 8216;8216;We will be questioning more people in the coming days,8217;8217; K.L. Bishnoi, DCP of Economic Offences Wing said.

Shyam Ahuja, president of Finance Brokers and Small Depositors Forum said he will be filing a separate complaint against Advani and other bank directors for de-frauding the small depositors. 8216;8216;I will be filing the complaint to EOW tomorrow on behalf of small depositors who have lost their entire life8217;s savings in this scam,8217;8217; said Ahuja.

Bank records indicate Advani8217;s failed television venture Business India Television, or BITV, had withdrawn Rs 1.73 crore directly from the board8217;s account. The police have yet to trace that money.

The EOW said Niranjan Hiranandani, Chairman of the Collegiate Board 8212; which runs 24 educational institutions with 45,000 students in Mumbai and Ulhasnagar 8212; filed a complaint for 8216;8216;theft and embezzlement8217;8217; of funds against Advani. Advani was a director at the bank when it accumulated non-performing assets and defaulted on payments to its small-time depositors and to the Collegiate Board. Advani deposited the Collegiate Board8217;s funds in the cooperative bank, transferred money to his accounts, and later withdrew money from these accounts, says a statement filed by the Board8217;s secretary, J.K. Bhambani.

The Collegiate Board says along with the Rs 9.31 crore interest, Jai Hind Bank now owes it Rs 36 crore. The Indian Express ran a series of articles in November 2003 highlighting the woes of small investors 8212; mainly Sindhis 8212; of the bank.