Former chairman of Pune Zilla Parishad, Mangaldas Bandal, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday in connection with an alleged Rs494-crore fraud involving Shivajirao Bhosale Sahakari Bank. During searches at Bandal’s premises, the ED seized Rs25 lakh in cash and froze fixed deposits worth Rs50 lakh.
The investigation commenced under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), following a first information report (FIR) registered by Pune’s Shivajinagar police station in 2020. This FIR was based on a complaint from the bank’s statutory auditor.
The ED’s investigation revealed that multiple individuals committed the fraud through various irregularities, including siphoning cash from the bank without official records in the core banking system and transferring funds to their own or related parties’ accounts. The accused were also involved in the fraudulent disbursal and diversion of loan funds, facilitated by key managerial personnel within the bank.
During the raids, ED officials examined numerous documents and financial transactions, uncovering that bogus cheque-discounting facilities were used to reduce the bank’s non-performing assets. Key personnel treated the bank’s funds as their own, utilizing siphoned money for personal gains.
In previous searches conducted in February, the ED had provisionally attached 23 properties worth Rs26.60 crore belonging to individuals implicated in the case, including Anil Bhosale, Suryaji Jadhav, and Nusrat Mujawar. The probe indicated that Bhosale and Jadhav were among the primary beneficiaries of the fraud.
Bandal, a wrestler-turned-politician, has faced multiple legal issues in the past, including being previously jailed for land fraud. He has also been charged under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for threatening a businessman with a firearm.
The ED’s actions come at a critical time, as Bandal was preparing to contest in the upcoming assembly elections from Shirur.
