Bank Fraud: Police arrested Auditor in Ajanta Urban Cooperative Bank Scam of Rs.97.4 Crore

In yet another loan scam, a case of cheating, criminal breach of trust, and forgery has been filed against the Ajanta Urban Cooperative Bank’s management as well as the employees involved who have worked there since March 2006.

The scam is worth Rs. 97.4 crore, according to the city police. The bank’s auditor has already been detained.

The City Chowk police registered a FIR late on Wednesday based on a complaint filed by the cooperative societies department’s special auditor, Suresh Kakde.

The FIR named incumbent chairman and former Congress MLC Subhash Zambad, CEO Pradeep Kulkarni, and bank auditor Satish Mohre of Ajanta Urban Cooperative Bank.

Zambad denied all allegations levelled against him and stated, “We are ready to assist in the ongoing investigation.”

The case has been transferred to the EOW, which arrested Mohre and brought him before a court on Thursday. He was taken into police custody.

Mohre audited the bank’s transactions for the financial year 2022-23, according to EOW inspector Sambhaji Pawar, but raised no red flags about the 36 suspicious/dubious loan transactions.

“These transactions were found to be in breach of the existing norms and laws after the special auditor of the department of cooperative societies audited the cooperative bank,” Pawar went on to say.

The officer also stated that Mohre submitted forged certificates as well as a forged balance sheet claiming that Ajanta Bank has deposits totaling Rs 32.8 crore in three different banks.

According to police, after the alleged dubious transactions were brought to the attention of the Reserve Bank of India, restrictions were imposed on the bank’s transactions.