Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has busted a loan scam racket in which a fake loan taker, bank officials and suppliers have been exposed, officials said here on Friday.
A complaint was received from a businessman stating that an MSME loan of Rs 10 lakh had been sanctioned in his name without his knowledge, and he had received neither the machinery nor the funds.
Investigation into the complaint revealed, prima facie, that the complainant's maternal uncle (now deceased), in collusion with the branch manager of a bank situated at MP Nagar branch in Bhopal and representatives of two machinery-supplying firms, secured the loan using forged documents.
They subsequently withdrew Rs 8,85,000 of loan amount on the pretext of purchasing machinery and divided the money among themselves.
No inspection, only sanction
The investigation revealed that the complainant's loan was processed in a single sitting on March 21, 2024, spanning the time from application to disbursement in just four hours. The bank conducted no site inspection, did not verify the details of the firm selling the machinery and never introduced the complainant to the seller.
The investigation revealed that while the loan amount was transferred to one Vishal Enterprises account for the machinery, no machinery was delivered to the complainant. Instead, the firm's operators routed the money through another firm.
The funds were transferred on the same or the following day to the accounts of the complainant's maternal uncle and other individuals designated by him. Sums of Rs 3.91 lakh and Rs 3 lakh were circulated in this manner. On the day the loan was processed, Rs 50,000 was sent to financial advisor Rajiv Rajput and Rs 2,46,500 to the maternal uncle from the firm.
Not a single case
The investigation revealed that this was not a single case. The complainant's maternal uncle had five loans sanctioned from the same branch within a span of 10-15 days. However, except for one, none of the applicants received the machinery.
Similar modus operandi
Similar modus operandi was also executed for three other loans sanctioned by the same branch in March 2024. Based on these findings, a case was registered against suspects Rahul Bhosale, branch manager, Rajiv Rajput (financial advisor), Naima Ali (proprietor, Vishal Enterprises), Qamar Ali (director, Vishal Enterprises), and Umar Ali (proprietor, Global Marketers) under Sections 420 and 120-B of Indian Penal Code.
