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

Hyderabad: Elections to the board of Andhra Pradesh Mahesh Cooperative Urban Bank Ltd set to be held on December 7 have turned increasingly contentious, with the incumbent board led by chairman Ramesh Kumar Bung facing a barrage of allegations ranging from fund mismanagement and governance collapse to regulatory violations and corruption. The rival panel has intensified its campaign, accusing the Bung-led panel of systematically weakening the bank through decisions that allegedly resulted in massive financial losses to the bank

Bung, who previously held the chairman’s post for three terms, has long been at the centre of controversy. Insiders in Mahesh Bank say his repeated elections were marked by charges of manipulating the voters’ list, prompting multiple legal battles. Despite these disputes, his panel is back in the fray for the December 7 elections, which will decide 15 board positions, including the chairman.

AP Mahesh Cooperative Urban Bank Ltd, founded in 1970 and headquartered in Hyderabad, is one of the country’s leading multi-state cooperative banks with more than 30,000 shareholders and over two lakh customers. Insiders say, a series of inquiries 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 Bung panel’s leadership. It is alleged that the bank suffered losses exceeding ₹327 crore due to irregularities during this period.

Insiders says the RBI imposed penalties amounting to ₹1.12 crore for extensive KYC non-compliance, stalling the bank’s growth plans. More damaging were fraud incidents that exposed severe gaps in internal controls, a ₹10 crore cyber fraud and a ₹1.80 crore fixed deposit fraud that severely eroded public confidence.

The ED officials conducted raids in August 2024 and initiated an investigation on the basis of 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 crore to various persons and entities against illegal collaterals such as Wakf Board lands and non-existent properties by charging a commission of up to 10 per cent.

Accusations of absenteeism have also triggered outrage, with claims that the chairman attended only one board meeting in an entire fiscal year. Professional directors reportedly attended just one out of 12 meetings.

Minority directors alleged that their objections were ignored. The Bung regime is also accused of disrupting recovery efforts by filing legal cases against the court-appointed officer-in-charge and the new managing director, besides boycotting the annual general meeting.

Polling will be held on December 7 and counting will be held on December 8.