Actor Preity Zinta got Rs 1.55 cr remission on her loan she borrowed from New India Coop Bank: Cops

Mumbai: The New India Co-operative Bank, which has been hit by a Rs 122 crore scam, had given a remission of Rs 1.55 crore to Bollywood actor Preity Zinta to settle her sanctioned loan of Rs 18 crore which it classified as a non-performing asset (NPA), police said on Thursday.

The loan was sanctioned in 2011 and the actor settled it in April 2014, an official said.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police is probing the New India Co-operative Bank embezzlement case. It has so far arrested eight accused in the case, including the bank's former general manager and head of accounts Hitesh Mehta, who was held on February 15. The agency has examined the data of the bank's NPA loans from 2010 onwards.

"During the investigation, it was found that actor Preity Zinta had taken a loan from the bank. She was sanctioned a loan of Rs 18 crore on January 7, 2011," he said.

"She had mortgaged her properties to the bank, which included a flat in Mumbai and a property in Shimla, collectively worth Rs 27.41 crore. In November 2012, she had to repay Rs 11.40 crore to the bank," the official said.

On March 31, 2013, her loan account was classified as NPA due to non-repayment of it in time, and the NPA amount was Rs 11.47 crore, he said.

"The bank then offered settlement of the loan by giving a remission of Rs 1.55 crore on the final settlement of the loan to her. The remaining loan amount was paid by the actor on April 5, 2014," the official said.

Meanwhile, the EOW will conduct a brain mapping test on Hitesh Mehta, the prime accused in the case, on Friday at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Mumbai's Kalina to collect more information about the money trail and involvement of other accused persons.

The police had earlier conducted a polygraph test on Mehta, the official said.

Former chairman of the bank Hiren Bhanu and his wife Gauri Bhanu are wanted accused in the case.