Bhopal News: EOW Books Four Including Bank Officials For Loan On Crane

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has registered a case against four persons, including bank officials, in connection with a fraudulent loan sanctioned for the purchase of an earthmoving crane, which caused a loss of Rs 72 lakh to a nationalised bank, officials said here on Thursday.

Director General, EOW, Upendra Jain said a loan of Rs 72 lakh was sanctioned in the name of Vijay Pal Singh, proprietor of SB/SV Enterprises, Mandideep, for purchasing an earthmoving machine. The loan was sanctioned by the then bank manager V V Iyer and loan in-charge B S Rawat of a nationalised bank’s Mandideep branch under the Chief Minister Yuva Udyami Yojana.

Investigations revealed that the crane, against which the loan was taken, had already been purchased by Gyendra Aswal, proprietor of Leo Engineering Services, and was mortgaged with Axis Bank.

According to the EOW, Vijay Pal, who had worked with Leo Engineering Services, claimed that Gyendra had floated a fake firm in his (Vijay Pal’s) name. The loan applicants allegedly submitted fake and fabricated documents to obtain the loan.

The then bank officials violated standard operating procedures (SOPs) for sanctioning machine/vehicle loans, following which the amount was released in March 2017. The loan account turned non-performing asset (NPA) in 2020 after partial repayment. Vijay Pal and Gyendra took the subsidy benefits but failed to repay the entire loan amount. When the account turned NPA, the matter was reported to the police, and during investigation it came to light that the same machine had been pledged to a third bank. The EOW has booked all four accused under relevant sections of the IPC for cheating.