Mahesh Coop Bank Polls Campaign Heats Up With Corruption Charges Against Chairman Bung-Led Board

Hyderabad: The board elections of Andhra Pradesh Mahesh Cooperative Urban Bank Ltd, scheduled for December 7, have become increasingly controversial, with the incumbent board led by chairman Ramesh Kumar Bung facing a barrage of allegations ranging from fund mismanagement and collapse of governance to regulatory violations and corruption. The rival panel intensified its campaign, accusing the Bung-led panel of systematically weakening the bank through decisions that allegedly led to huge financial losses for the bank.

Bung, who had previously served as president for three terms, had been at the center of controversy for a long time. People at Mahesh Bank say the repeat elections were marked by accusations of manipulating the voter list, leading to numerous legal battles. Despite these disagreements, his delegation began to fight again for the December 7 elections in which 15 board positions, including the president, will be determined.

Established in 1970 and headquartered in Hyderabad, AP Mahesh Cooperative Urban Bank Ltd is one of the leading multi-state cooperative banks in the country with over 30,000 shareholders and over two lakh customers. Insiders say a series of investigations by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED), court interventions and findings from the bank’s internal records have cast a long shadow over the leadership of the Bung panel. The bank allegedly incurred losses exceeding ₹327 crore due to irregularities during this period.

Insiders say the RBI has imposed penalties of ₹ 1.12 crore for extensive KYC non-compliance, stalling the bank’s growth plans. Fraud cases that exposed serious gaps in internal controls, cyber fraud worth Rs 10 crore and fixed deposit fraud worth Rs 1.80 crore that severely eroded public trust have done further damage.

ED officials conducted raids in August 2024 and launched an investigation based on various FIRs registered by Banjara Hills police against Ramesh Kumar Bung, Umesh Chand Asawa, Puroshatamdas Mandhana and others for disbursing loans of more than Rs 300 million to various individuals and entities against illegal collaterals such as Wakf Board lands and non-existent properties, demanding a commission of up to 10 per cent.

Accusations of absenteeism also triggered outrage; allegations that the chairman attended only one board meeting in the entire fiscal year. Professional managers reportedly attended only one in 12 meetings.

Minority executives claimed their objections were ignored. In addition to boycotting the annual general meeting, the Bung regime is also accused of disrupting recovery efforts by filing lawsuits against the court-appointed responsible officer and the new chief executive.

Voting will take place on December 7 and counting will take place on December 8.