Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW), investigating the ₹122 crore scam at New India Cooperative Bank, has tightened its noose around the absconding Bhanu couple. On Wednesday, the EOW issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Hiren Bhanu (former chairman) and his wife Gauri Bhanu (acting vice-chairman), who fled abroad before the scam was exposed.
According to a senior EOW officer, the couple was initially served with a lookout circular, followed by a blue-corner notice, requesting them to appear for questioning. However, they failed to comply, prompting the EOW to secure the non-bailable warrant. With this warrant in place, the EOW can directly arrest the couple. Since their last known location was overseas, officials are considering seeking Interpol's assistance to bring them back to India.
Meanwhile, during interrogation, accused Kapil Dedhia made several significant revelations. According to EOW sources, Hitesh Mehta (the prime accused) and builder Dharmesh Paun paid ₹12 crore to Dedhia, who played a key role in diverting the embezzled funds.
The investigation uncovered that, after receiving ₹12 crore, Mehta transferred ₹69.60 lakh into Dedhia's bank account. Subsequently, Dedhia transferred ₹1.60 crore back to Mehta's account. Later, Mehta deposited ₹30.45 lakh into the bank account of Dedhia’s company, Evolve Square LA, from which ₹86 lakh was routed back to Mehta’s account.
The EOW stated that this series of transactions clearly indicates that the embezzled funds were being laundered. Further investigation revealed that Paun had also diverted ₹2.09 crore into Dedhia's personal and business accounts from various bank accounts. Acting on this information, the EOW conducted searches at Dedhia's residence and bank accounts, uncovering additional evidence of fund diversions.
₹25 Lakh Construction Project Linked to Embezzled Funds:
During the probe, the EOW found that Dedhia had undertaken a ₹25 lakh construction project at Shimpli B building. The bill for this work was paid by Hitesh Mehta using funds embezzled from the bank.
The EOW suspects that Dedhia received ₹12 crore from the ₹122 crore embezzled from the bank. They are investigating why Dedhia was paid such a large sum and why he returned part of the amount to other accused individuals. The EOW is also probing how Dedhia utilized the remaining funds.
