Saturday, May 31, 2014

Scam In Cooperative Banks In Maharashtra

Probe report blames MSC bank board led by Ajit Pawar for losses-The Hindu 1st June 2014

Troubles are mounting for the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra which is yet to recover from its rout in the Lok Sabha polls. A report by the state Cooperatives department has pinned the blame for losses worth nearly Rs. 500 crores in the Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank on its board, which was led mainly NCP politicians including the Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

The bank’s board was disbanded in 2011, after directions from the Reserve Bank of India because it was deeply in the red. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan’s go ahead for the dissolution had led Ajit Pawar to publicly attack him. The probe report could well widen the rift between the Congress and NCP which run the coalition government in the state.

The report says, “decisions, actions and the inaction of the erstwhile board of directors of the bank were responsible for the irregularities and the financial losses incurred.”

The probe pertains to the period 2008-2011 when the board was dominated by the NCP though it had directors from most political parties. Its chairperson Manikrao Patil belonged to the NCP as did key directors Mr Ajit Pawar, MP Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, and Cabinet Minister Dilip Sopal. The directors from the Congress included Dilip Deshmukh and Manikrao Kokate. Mr Pandurang Phundkar from the BJP and Anandrao Adsul from the Shiv Sena were also on the board.

“An inquiry will now be conducted under section 88 of the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act to fix individual responsibility on members of the board. The investigating officer will decide to what extent individuals are responsible. If found liable, their properties could be attached,” Maharashtra Cooperatives secretary Rajgopal Deora told The Hindu.

The probe had found that the bank’s board sanctioned loans to both private and cooperative sugar mills without adequate security and guarantees. Loans were even extended to units with negative net worth. Cooperative sugar factories were sold on the cheap by the bank to recover loans without following due diligence, the report says.

The Opposition BJP has demanded Mr Pawar’s resignation, saying he wielded control over the bank’s functioning. However NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said, “The bank’s board had members from all political parties. Why should Mr. Ajit Pawar be singled out?”
Maharashtra co-op bank with Dy CM Ajit Pawar as director indicted for losses

In an embarrassment for the Maharashtra government, an official report has indicted the erstwhile Board of Directors of the state's apex cooperative bank, which included Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and several other leaders of the ruling Congress-NCP combine, for irregularities resulting in huge losses.

In an embarrassment for the Maharashtra government, an official report has indicted the erstwhile Board of Directors of the state's apex cooperative bank, which included Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and several other leaders of the ruling Congress-NCP combine, for irregularities resulting in huge losses.
The report by the Commissioner and Registrar of Cooperatives, Dinesh Aaulkar, has said the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) had to suffer losses of over Rs 1,500 crore due to the decisions and actions of the erstwhile Board of Directors during three financial years since 2007-08.
While NCP's Manikrao Patil was the chairman of the board at that time, Ajit Pawar, nephew of party chief and former Union Minister Sharad Pawar, was one of the directors.

Other directors included former Deputy CM Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, Amarsinh Pandit, Yasvantrao Gadakh (NCP), Diliprao Deshmukh, Manikrao Kokate, Ramprasad Bordikar and Rajani Patil (Congress). Though names of Anandrao Adsul (Shiv Sena) and Pandurang Phundkar (BJP) also figured in the list, the Board of Directors was dominated by leaders from Congress and NCP.
Secretary, Department of Cooperation, Rajgopal Deora said Aaulkar has issued orders for initiating proceedings under section 88 of the Maharashtra Co-operatives Act 1960 to fix accountability for the financial losses to the bank and from whom to recover the losses.

Aaulkar has appointed Additional Registrar Shivaji Pahinkar to initiate the proceedings to fix accountability and submit a report in three months.

Asked if criminal proceedings too could be initiated against those found responsible, Deora said any decision in this regard could be taken by the management of the bank alone.

 The Reserve Bank of India had dissolved the Board of Directors of the bank in 2011 after it was found having high negative worth and put the control of the management under administrators. Under the administrators, the bank is now out of the red.

There were accusations that non-performing assets (NPA) of the bank had soared following extension of loans in violation of norms to various cooperative societies controlled by politicians who did not pay back.
The report, which was submitted last week, comes at a time when the ruling alliance is smarting from the drubbing it received in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections and barely months before it faces state assembly polls.

Ajit Pawar not to resign over bank scandal: Govt-Times of India -01.06.2014

PUNE/MUMBAI: Cooperation minister Harshvardhan Patil said on Saturday that there was no question of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar resigning from government for the heavy losses suffered by the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank, saying an inquiry was still on.

Pawar was a director of the NCP-controlled bank before the board was dissolved in 2011 on RBI directives. The bank had suffered losses of at least Rs 600 crore and a Nabard report had spoken about the non-repayment of loans taken by financial societies ruled by politicians.

A preliminary inquiry by the cooperation department holding the board of directors responsible for the loss became public on Friday.

The board included NCP leaders MP Vijaysingh Mohite Patil, Amarsingh Pandit, Ishwarlal Jain and Dilip Sopal, and Congress leaders Manikro Patil, Vijay Vadettiwar, Ramprasad Bordikar and Manikrao Kokate. Anand Adsul of the Shiv Sena and Pandurang Phundkar of the BJP were also on the board.

Patil, addressing a news conference after the District Planning and Development Council meeting in Pune, said there was no need to arrive at any conclusion yet and another inquiry had been initiated by the cooperation department to fix individual responsibility in the matter.

"There is a provision in the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act under section 88 to conduct an inquiry," he said. "A quasi-judicial authority will conduct it, which I assure will be taken up independently without any political interference."

Leader of the opposition in the legislative council Vinod Tawde of the BJP had demanded Pawar's resignation to keep political pressure at bay during the inquiry.

A one-man committee of additional registrar Shivaji Pahinkar now tasked with fixing responsibility on any of the 57 directors of the bank has six months to complete the job.

"If these signatories [directors and officials] of various loss-making deals of the bank such as unlawful loaning of huge funds to the financially sinking sugar factories and spinning mills are found guilty of [causing] loss, their properties could be attached to meet the losses," a person with knowledge of the issue said. "Of the Rs 1,500 crore [lost], around Rs 600 crore appears to have been lost due to unjust loaning of money to financially-ailing sugar and spinning mills dominated by politicians in 2007-2011."

The inquiry comes at a time when the NCP faces an uphill task going into the assembly election due in a few months, as the party managed only four Lok Sabha seats in the state, two more than its ally, the Congress.
Link Times of India

Link DNA

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