The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked at least 10 Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) officers on the charge of having duped the bank of an estimated ₹4 crore.
The agency produced the suspects before its special court here. The court later released them on bail. The CBI told the court that the fraud had occurred mainly in the IOB branch at Pandalam in Pathanamthitta district. The suspects had granted considerable loans to private persons by accepting as genuine fictitious documents, title deeds of properties tied up in litigation and bogus invoices. An internal inspection conducted by the IOB had unearthed the fraud.
The CBI found that the bank officials had not adequately valued the land submitted as collateral. They accepted the value quoted by the loanees. They also extended low-interest agricultural loans, to account holders who did no farming.
