Indore News: ₹33 Lakh Loan Fraud; EOW Books Ex-Bank Manager, Six Others

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Indore, has registered an FIR against seven individuals, including former bank officials and a property owner, for allegedly defrauding a bank of Rs 33 lakh using forged property documents.

According to Superintendent of Police (EOW) Rameshwar Singh Yadav, the investigation began following a complaint by Anand Totad, Deputy General Manager of the bank.

Karamat Khan, proprietor of M/s Abu Road Lines, had secured a loan of Rs 10 lakh in 2016. In 2017, he sought to enhance the credit limit to Rs 33 lakh and allegedly submitted forged ownership documents for a property in Green Park Colony to obtain the loan.

The fraud came to light when the account was declared a non-performing asset (NPA) in December 2019. During recovery proceedings under the SARFAESI Act, it was found that the property had already been mortgaged to another bank and was auctioned in 2021.

Role of bank officials

Investigating Officer Rajesh Sahu found alleged negligence and criminal conspiracy involving bank officials and others. Despite the property being previously encumbered, the bank s panel advocate and valuer submitted misleading reports, leading to approval of the loan on November 21, 2017.

The case has been registered against Karamat Khan, Mohammad Rafiq, Jatin Gupta, Kamlesh Darwani, Sunil Jain, Javed Khan and Mohammad Irfan Khan under relevant sections of the IPC, including cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy, along with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act.

Officials said mandatory KYC checks and due diligence were allegedly not followed, resulting in financial loss to the bank. Further investigation is underway.