The farm loan behind the Raigad bank furore

Shivraj Ramkrishna Bhosle

Accusations have been flying left and right in the case involving legislator Jayant Patil and his associates being booked in the Raigad District Central Cooperative Bank (RDCCB) case. The furore even led the chairman of the legislative council to direct the government to suspend the Navi Mumbai commissioner of police and his deputy for acting against the bank officials.

Last week, the complainant, Shivraj Ramkrishna Bhosle, had filed a first information report (FIR) accusing the bank of money laundering by depositing R1.10 crore into his account and transferring it without his knowledge. He has also accused the bank of forging the signatures of himself, his wife and son to prove that they were members of RDCCB so that the bank could get sweeping powers to recover loan arrears from him.

Debt and default
According to Bhosle, he had mortgaged his 48-acre farm towards a loan of R1.50 crore from RDCCB on May 8, 2012. He had planned to cultivate the sweet Stevia herb, which has great export potential. He regularly paid the loan instalments till 2015, but could not pay the remaining R60 lakh. The bank then started the process of recovering the arrears under the Maharashtra Cooperative Act 1960. Bhosle contested the recovery notice saying as he wasn't a member of the bank, proceedings under the Act were unwarranted.

'Forged signatures'
Bhosle told mid-day on Thursday that he was shocked when the bank produced documents before the sub-registrar to prove that he, his wife Sujata and son Abhimanyu were nominal members of RDCCB. "The bank said we had applied for membership on May 8, 2012 (the day the loan was disbursed). None of us had applied for membership or signed any application. We said it was forgery," he said.

Following Bhosle's FIR on March 17, 2018 (a copy of which is available with mid-day), the bank officials were booked. "I repeatedly asked the bank for information about deposits in my account, and money transferred to other accounts. The bank hasn't given me any details yet," he said. Bhosle said it would now be up to the police to probe the money trail and find out if it was an attempt to launder (black) money in view of demonetisation.

Bhosle said a proper investigation in the case would get many skeletons out of the closet. "I gave all details to the government and the police on Wednesday. It would be interesting to know why a farmers' bank does 90% of its business in non-farming activity," he said. Bhosle said he was ready to pay the arrears of R60 lakh to the sub-registrar office. Nagrale and officers concerned in the home department refused to comment.