Mumbai, April 9 A Mumbai court on Thursday denied bail to Hitesh Mehta, the former General Manager of New India Cooperative Bank, who was arrested in a ₹122 crore fraud at the bank, and described him as the prime accused in the case.
The court noted that a long period of imprisonment cannot be a basis for granting bail to an accused in economic offences, as trials in such cases take a considerable amount of time.
Mehta, the former General Manager and Head of Accounts at the bank, is the prime suspect in the alleged misappropriation of funds from the bank's reserves over a period of five years.
Additional Sessions Judge Vikram Jagdale, who heard the bail plea, noted that after reviewing the chargesheet and police report, it was clear that Mehta, who has been in jail for over a year, is the prime accused.
The former GM had prepared forged and false electronic records, including debit notes and valuable bank bonds, in order to divert an amount of approximately ₹122 crore, the court said in its order while rejecting his bail plea.
Regarding the contention of a long period of imprisonment, the court acknowledged that Mehta has been in jail since February 2025.
However, the court stated that this cannot be a basis for granting bail, as "one cannot ignore the fact that in economic offenses, it takes time to initiate and conclude a trial when there are numerous accused and witnesses".
Furthermore, the court cannot overlook the nature, magnitude, and amount involved in the offense, the judge said.
The case came to light following an inspection by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officers at the bank's Prabhadevi office in central Mumbai.
Initially, the officers questioned a short cash amount of ₹112 crore at Prabhadevi, which later escalated to a missing amount of ₹122 crore from the bank's custody, including a shortfall found at the Goregaon office.
Mehta was arrested following allegations that he, along with his associates, orchestrated the embezzlement of funds from the bank.
