The Mumbai Police has registered a case against Hitesh Parveenchand Mehta, the former General Manager of the New India Co-operative bank for allegedly depleting off Rs 122 crore from the bank treasury. According to ANI, Mehta served as the GM in Dadar and Goregaon branches of the bank, and is now accused of misusing his position between 2020 and 2025 to commit financial fraud.

The case was filed after a complaint from New India Co-operative bank’s Chief Accounts Officer at the Dadar Police station. Mehta is suspected to be an accomplice by the police. The FIR has been registered under BNS sections 316(5) and 61(2). The case has been transferred to the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) for further investigation.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has taken strict action against the Mumbai Based lender New India Co-operative bank, owing to the concerns over governance lapses. On Thursday, RBI imposed a six-month transaction ban preventing New India Co-operative bank from accepting any fresh deposits, granting or renewing any loans, or making any payments without its approval.

The next day, RBI announced the replacement of the Board of Directors of the bank for a year. It appointed Shreekant, the former Chief General Manager of the State Bank of India (SBI) as an administrator to oversee the operations. A committee of advisors will assist him, which comprises of former SBI General Manager Ravindra Sapra and Chartered Accountant Abhijeet Deshmukh.

RBI said its intervention was due to the “poor governance standards” posed by the New India Co-operative bank.

The customers of the bank thronged to the branches wanting to withdraw their amount. The banners outside the branches read that the deposits would be paid back in 90 days. New India Co-operative bank has 24 operative branches- 17 in Mumbai, 4 in Thane, 2 in Palghar, and 1 in Navi Mumbai. It is facing losses since the last two fiscal years, in 2023 it was 31 crore and 23 crore in 2024.

The action will further cause widespread disruptions and the customers want an alternative solution as soon as possible. RBI is however, trying to restore normal operations of the bank at the earliest.