Money laundering case: SC grants interim bail to former chairman of Pune Co-operative Bank

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday granted interim bail on medical grounds to the former chairman of a Pune-based cooperative bank in a case related to alleged fraud and misappropriation of funds of the lender worth Rs 429 crore. A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra exonerated Amar Sadhuram Mulchandani, former chairman of Seva Vikas Cooperative Bank, after taking note of his health condition.

The top court was considering a report submitted by a panel of four specialist doctors at JJ Hospital in Mumbai.

It was also taken into account that Mulchandani has been in prison for over a year.

The money laundering probe against Mulchandani, who was arrested on July 1 last year, and others stems from several FIRs registered by the Pune Police based on complaints filed by the bank and the audit conducted by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies on “Large” indicated large-scale fraud and misappropriation of public funds caused a loss of Rs 429 billion to Seva Vikas Cooperative Bank and led to losses for thousands of small depositors.

The bank was “run like a family business by Amar Mulchandani without following any prudent banking rules and concessional loans were sanctioned in return for massive bribes,” the ED had said.

According to the agency, more than 92 percent of the loan accounts had been converted into NPAs, which ultimately led to the bank’s collapse and the RBI later revoked the bank’s license. Mulchandani and five of his family members were earlier arrested by the Maharashtra Police for “obstructing” an ED raid against the former bank chief on January 27 and for allegedly “destroying evidence”.

Assets worth Rs 122.35 crore, including some ‘benami’ properties of Mulchandani, were also provisionally attached by the agency.