Man arrested for Rs. 75-lakh bank fraud

In an interesting case, a manager of a production unit in Ambattur Industrial Estate fraudulently obtained a bank loan of over Rs. 75 lakh.

The man had obtained the loan using property documents belonging to his employer, who had given it to him to be handed over to a national bank. The culprit made photostat copies of the documents and later committed the fraud.

Sources with the bank fraud wing of the Central Crime Branch said Muthuvel (49) of Nandanam, had been working with the production unit for the last 17 years. In the beginning of 2012, his employer, Gowtham had applied for an industrial loan with a nationalised bank, using his property as collateral.

“Trusting Muthuvel, Gowtham gave his property documents to him to be handed over to the bank for the loan. Muthuvel did so only after making photostat copies of the documents,” said A. John Rose, assistant commissioner, bank fraud wing.

While Gowtham lawfully availed a bank loan, Muthuvel got a fake PAN card and ration card made in the name of Gowtham through two of his accomplices. He then applied for a business loan with the South Indian Bank, using the property documents and impersonating Gowtham, Mr. John added.

Muthuvel obtained an amount of Rs. 75.78 lakh on loan from the bank. As he did not repay the instalment, the bank authorities inspected the collateral documents and realised they were fake.

Muthuvel had absconded by then, following which the authorities lodged a complaint with the office of the Commissioner of Police here and the bank fraud wing conducted an investigation.

Following a six-month long search, Muthuvel and his accomplice Sriram were arrested on Tuesday morning in the city. A hunt is on for another accomplice, sources said.