The Anti-Bank Fraud Wing of Central Crime Branch (CCB) has detected a racket in obtaining car loans from the branches of public sector banks in the city. Three persons were arrested for allegedly cheating the banks for misrepresentation of facts and for producing forged documents.
The gang members had gone absconding for two years after obtaining loans to buy high-end cars by posing as wealthy businessmen. The Anti-Bank Fraud Wing took up investigation on the basis of a complaint from Thillai Govindan, manager of Punjab National Bank, Velachery branch.
The names of the accused were given as Mohammed Musamil, 34, T. Ayyathurai, 32, and B. Balvijay, 35, who furnished addresses of posh bungalows in Neelankarai and Muttukadu.
Musamil shifted to Chennai a couple of years ago after his textile business in Tirunelveli took hit. The other two joined hands with him to commit the fraud. They approached bank managers through brokers for obtaining loans. The gang submitted forged documents such as proof of income, employment and statement of borrower’s account and obtained loans.
The interrogation with the accused revealed that they had approached the then managers of Bank of India, Nungambakkam branch; Vijaya Bank, Egmore branch; Punjab National Bank, Thiruvanmiyur and Velachery branches; UCO Bank, Adyar branch and Indian Overseas Bank, Alwarpet branch, through middlemen.
“They forged Income Tax papers to show themselves as wealthy businessmen with huge income. They took posh bungalows on rent and lived there to impress the bank officials who sometimes visited the borrowers. In some cases, the loans were sanctioned without even seeing the borrowers,” said a police officer.
The suspects were in connivance with the car dealers and got the amount sanctioned. They availed loans but did not buy the high-end cars. In some cases, they bought a basic model after receiving the loan for high-end models.
In a few instances, they received the loan amount after returning the vehicle to the dealer. After obtaining loans, they paid instalments for a couple of months and later switched off their mobile phones and shifted to another bungalow, the police said. Police seized four luxury cars and arrested the three accused from a posh bungalow in Neelankarai.
Additional Commissioner of Police, Central Crime Branch, P.C. Thenmozhi said that bank managers should pay attention and do proper scrutiny of papers before sanctioning loans.
