On October 12, 2023, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) provisionally attached immovable properties belonging to Vivekanad Shankar Patil, a four-time MLA from the Shetkari Kamgar Paksha Party and the former chairman of Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank Ltd., Panvel, along with his relatives and Karnala Mahila Readymade Garments Cooperative Society Limited—an organization under his control. The attached properties, including a vast expanse of land, a bungalow, and a residential complex, have a combined book value of approximately Rs. 152 crore. This action is taken in connection with a Bank Fraud case involving Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank Ltd, Panvel.
ED launched an investigation based on the FIR that EOW, Mumbai Police, filed in 2019. Vivekanad Shankar Patil was found to have siphoned off money from the bank through 67 fictitious loan accounts to the loan accounts of entities/firms/trusts owned/controlled by Vivekanand S Patil, including Karnala Charitable Trust, Karnala Sports Academy, Karnala Mahila Readymade Garments Cooperative Society Limited, and other entities under his control, according to an audit conducted at the request of the Reserve Bank in the year 2019–20.
According to a probe by the ED, 67 fictitious loan accounts totalled around Rs. 560 Crore in fraud. The available cash was transferred to these bogus accounts in order to conceal the siphoning, and from these accounts to the numerous bank accounts of the businesses Patil founded or controlled. By exploiting the earnings of crime and portraying them as clean, organizations like Karnala Charitable Trust and Karnala Sports Academy used this cash to build buildings like sports complexes, colleges, and schools as well as for other personal purposes.
On June 15, 2021, the ED detained Vivekanad Shankar Patil, who is currently in judicial custody. On August 12, 2021, a prosecution complaint was submitted against him and the bank for the crime of money laundering. A provisional attachment order dated 17.08.2021 was also previously issued, attaching the immovable property worth Rs. 234 crore owned by Vivekanand S. Patil, his family, and his associated businesses. Assets with a book value of Rs. 386 billion have already been attached. Additional research is being done.
