Nagpur: In a major development having wide-ranging repercussions in Maharashtra politics, the Saoner Congress MLA and former Minister Sunil Kedar has been found guilty in the Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank’s Rs 150 crore scam. Kedar has reportedly been awarded six-year jail in the case, media reports said.
The special court in Nagpur has deemed Sunil Kedar, former Bank Chairman, Ketan Sheth (chief broker), Ashok Chaudhari (former bank manager), and three other chief brokers collectively guilty, while exonerating the remaining three. The court, after hearing evidence and arguments for quantum of sentence, awarded the jail term, media reports said. Additionally, the Nagpur District Cooperative Bank’s Rs 150 scam case is being reviewed by the Chief Justice.
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Tuesday 12 Nov. 2024
In 2002, a scam involving more than Rs 150 crore unfolded in the Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank. Sunil Kedar, who was then the bank’s chairman, is also a primary accused in this scandal. Further, due to the collapse of certain fraudulent companies, funds belonging to the bank and farmers were siphoned off. Kedar, along with others, has been implicated in these offenses.
What’s the case about?
According to reports, during 2001-2002, the Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank purchased government stocks (shares) from deceitful companies– Home Trade Limited, Indramani Merchants Private Limited, Century Dealers Private Limited, Syndicate Management Services, and Giltej Management Services. However, these companies failed to deliver the stocks to the bank, which incurred heavy losses.
Allegations suggest that these companies neither provided the stocks to the bank nor refunded the money. Consequently, a police complaint was filed, leading to an investigation by the CID. On completion of the probe, an accusation was submitted in court on November 22, 2002. However, this case was delayed due to various reasons.
During the scam, Sunil Kedar was the bank’s chairman in 1999. At that time, with the help of a fraudulent company, funds from the bank were invested in shares in a Kolkata-based company. However, this action violated cooperative department regulations as the bank’s permission was not obtained, and the money was not accounted for. As a result, the fraudulent company collapsed, causing a loss of the bank’s invested funds.
