MUMBAI: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) conducting a preliminary enquiry against former chairman of New India Cooperative Bank Hiren Bhanu — for allegedly sanctioning loans of more than Rs 400 crore to various people after taking bribes — has found details of actor Preity Zinta’s transactions with the bank.
Police said a Rs 18 crore loan was sanctioned to Zinta on Jan 7, 2011. The loan was declared as NPA on March 31, 2013, and the loan amount was settled for Rs 10.74 crore and a remission of Rs 1.55 crore was given to her. The amount was paid on April 5, 2014, said an EOW officer.
In Feb, the Congress unit of Kerala had alleged that the bank waived off a Rs 18 crore loan in exchange for her support of BJP. In response, Zinta had then clarified that she had an overdraft facility with the bank more than 12 years ago, which was fully repaid over a decade ago. She said her account had been closed since then, countering any claims that she benefited from the bank’s financial troubles.
An EOW officer said they have documents from the bank and are studying it.