Court Grants Pre-Arrest Bail To Former New India Co-op Bank CEO In ₹18.56 Crore OTS Fraud Case

A court has granted pre-arrest bail to Abhimany Bhoan, former CEO of New India Co-operative Bank Ltd, in a cheating and criminal breach of trust case, noting there was no prima facie evidence of his involvement.
Additional Sessions Judge NG Shukla granted relief on July 5, with the detailed order made available on Tuesday. Bhoan remains in judicial custody in another related case probed by EOW.

In the current case, the prosecution alleges that Bhoan, along with the bank’s late chairman Ranjit Bhanu and vice-chairman Gauri Ranjit Bhanu, accepted a one-time settlement (OTS) of Rs61.34 crore from Percept Group of Companies against an outstanding loan of Rs79.90 crore.

The settlement allegedly caused the bank a wrongful loss of Rs 18.56 crore, it said.

The police further alleged that Bhoan and co-accused in the case received Rs6.37 crore in their bank accounts from the company in exchange for accepting the OTS proposal.

Bhoan's advocate Wesley Moneza contended that the accused was appointed as the CEO in 2019 and had no role in accepting the OTS proposal.

He highlighted that previous OTS applications by Percept Group were rejected by the board of directors and Bhoan himself.

The OTS in contention was accepted on October 19, 2023, as per the RBI guidelines issued on June 8, 2023, the advocate submitted.

The court noted the investigating officer had not sought Bhoan's custodial interrogation despite him being in judicial custody in another crime. Hence, it seems that the police do not really require Bhoan's custodial interrogation, the court said.

The judge held that in the instant case, the accused as CEO had placed the OTS proposal given by Percept Group Companies before the board meeting.

“Prima facie, there is no material showing role of applicant in taking decision of according approval to said proposal,” the court ruled, while allowing his plea.