During its investigation into the fraud at Seva Vikas Cooperative Bank, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in Mumbai arrested three people under the provisions of the PMLA 2002. The ED has detained Bablu Sonkar, a close friend of ex-Chairman Amar Mulchandani, as well as two contract employees working at the ED Office.
The ED launched an investigation based on multiple FIRs filed by Pune Police in response to bank complaints and an audit conducted by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies that revealed large-scale fraud and misappropriation of public funds, resulting in a loss of Rs 429 crore to the Seva Vikas Cooperative Bank. An ED investigation found that the Cooperative Bank was conducted like a family business, with little regard for sensible financial standards, and loans were granted without any credible collateral or assessment of the applicant’s creditworthiness in exchange for enormous bribes. More than 92% of the loan accounts became non-performing, and the bank is now bankrupt. The ED had done repeated searches.
During the investigation, it was discovered that one person was frequently lurking around the ED Office premises and that he was Babu Sonkar (an employee of Amar Mulchandani) and that he was tasked by the Mulchandani family to threaten the witnesses and to pass on bribe amounts to 1 Data Entry Operator and 1 contingent staff working in the ED office instead of sensitive information.
The amounts paid have been recovered by the authorities. Several damning papers have been seized from the custody of Bablu Sonkar and these workers of ED and the contractual staff of ED have confirmed that they were sending sensitive information to Bablu Sonkar. As a result, they have also been arrested under the PMLA. More study is being undertaken.
