EOW probe old in misappropriation case politically motivated: Opposition leader Darekar

The Leader of Opposition in the state legislative council, Pravin Darekar, said Monday the Economic Offense Wing (EoW) probe against him on charges of financial misappropriation in the Mumbai District Cooperative Bank (MDCB) was “politically motivated”.

“This is an old case. I had faced all investigations and nothing was proved against me in the MDCB case. I have done no wrong Yet, if the MVA government wants to conduct another investigation in the case, let them do it. I am confident and have nothing to fear,” he said.

An FIR had been registered in 2015 against Darekar, the then chairman of MDCB, along with others for alleged irregularities of around Rs 123 crore. Following an investigation, the Mumbai Police had in 2019 filed a ‘C’ summary report, which means there was no case made out against the accused.

Last week, a magistrate court rejected the closure report and asked the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai police to further investigate the matter.

The court, in its order, observed, “…serious allegations are made against office bearers of the Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank Ltd. As per their allegations, there is a misappropriation of a huge amount. It is a public fund. Therefore, a detailed investigation is required.”

On Monday, a senior BJP leader said the MVA government was trying to rake up old issues to build pressure on the opposition ahead of the Monsoon Session of the state legislature. “But such tactics will not work. Darekar got a clean chit in the case which was probed and closed,” the leader said.