MUMBAI, 16 JUNE, 2021 (GPN): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrested former MLA from Panvel, Vivekanand Shankar Patil, in connection with a Rs 512-crore bank fraud at Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank. Patil is the former chairman of the Panvel-based bank.

The ED has alleged that Patil allegedly created fictitious accounts and siphoned off about Rs 500 crore. This money, sources said, was diverted for building the Karnala Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai.

Patil will be produced before a court on Wednesday for remand. The money laundering case of ED against Patil is based on an FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Navi Mumbai police last year. The police booked 76 persons, including Patil, for cheating, forgery and criminal breach of trust, in connection with the bank fraud detected by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

An RBI audit on the 17 branches of the bank found that several loan accounts were opened without due diligence and the money loaned to these customers was misappropriated.

In June 2020, the RBI had restricted withdrawals at Rs 500 per depositor across all accounts of Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank.

RBI had also said the bank cannot grant loans and advances, make any investment and incur any liability, including acceptance of fresh deposits without its approval. The bank was also prohibited from disbursing any payment, or entering into any arrangement to sell, transfer or dispose of any of its properties or assets.According to the last published financial results of the bank, as on March 31, 2017, it had deposits of Rs 476.3 crore and advances of Rs 454 crore. The bank has 7,288 members and about 40,000 depositors. Ends