Nothing to do with co-op bank scam, says Maharashtra Minister Harshvardhan Patil

A day after dna reported about corruption and misappropriation of money in Dhule District Central Co-op Bank, state cooperation minister Harshvardhan Patil has denied all the allegations levelled against him by MLA Anil Gote. Gote has alleged that Patil is involved the scam.

Although the state Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) has sought permission from the government to probe the minister, Patil told dna that he is not involved in any corruption or malpractice of the bank.

"The allegations are baseless and false. I am neither a member nor a loaner of the bank. In my capacity as the cooperation minister, I have not been involved in any transaction of the bank. How can a minister be held responsible for any alleged wrong-doings of the bank?" said Patil.

He added that if the bank is involved in large-scale irregularities as alleged, the chairman and managing director should be held responsible and not the minister. "I have over 2 lakh cooperative institutions under me and I take action against those institutions where corrupt activities take place. Several cases of alleged scams come to me and based on facts and findings, we take action."

As per the complaint, the minister, along with cooperation department officials, ex-ministers and board of directors of the DDC Co-op Bank, were involved in corruption and misappropriation of about Rs144 crore in the bank.

The complainant has alleged that the bank has run into heavy losses because of sanctioning of unsecured loans to cooperative bodies and due to several other financial irregularities. Gote also said that despite keeping Patil and his officials in the loop, his complaints went unheard and the bank authorities have been receiving support from Patil for misappropriation, money laundering and corruption.

Patil has, however, denied the allegations and said that ACB has named him in the list on their website for an open inquiry purely based on Gote's application. "There is nothing concrete in the complaint. I'm quite confident that the government will sanction an inquiry against the bank authorities and not the minister," added Patil.