The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has busted an intricate financial fraud in which the accused allegedly set up bank accounts against bogus documents, modified the bank passbooks using photo editing software and obtained hefty loans against the modified passbooks. The accused are alleged to have made at least ₹2 crore using this method.
According to officers, the property cell of the Crime Branch received a tip-off about the racket around two months ago. The first challenge in the investigation was to identify the accused, as every document had bogus names on it.
“Everything, from the documents used for opening the bank accounts to the entries on the passbooks on the basis of which loans were obtained, was falsified. Over the course of nearly two months, we made inquiries with scores of bank loan agents to find out who in their circle was suspected of dabbling in dubious activities, and zeroed in on Chetan Kawa (36) and Sushant Ayre (29),” an officer who was part of the investigation said.
The property cell picked up Mr. Kawa from Mira Road and Mr. Ayre from Mulund on Thursday, and after preliminary inquiries established their involvement, arrested them. They spilled the beans on the entire racket, which is said to have been active for at least the last five to six years, officers said.
‘Modified passbooks’
“They would first obtain houses on rent in different parts of Mumbai and Thane, and using the rent agreement as address proof, obtain PAN or Aadhaar cards. Armed with these documents, the accused would open accounts in various banks. Once they got the passbooks, they would scan them and add bogus entries using photo editing software, enhancing the account balance on paper. Using these modified passbooks, the accused would obtain personal or home loans from banks or financial institutions, which would be anything from ₹30 to ₹40 lakh,” the officer said.
He said the accused would submit loan applications to three to four institutions at a single time, and would discard the old identities as soon as one of the loan applications was processed. They allegedly had a wide network of people who would help them set up bank accounts in their names, and pass on the loan amount to them for a cut, sources said.
17 cases registered
“According to inquiries so far, the accused have defrauded 10 banks and financial institutions and we have found 17 cases registered against them in various police stations so far. The two arrested accused, along with two more who are wanted, are believed to have made more than ₹2 crore so far, and the number is expected to rise as investigations progress,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) Shahaji Umap said. Mr. Kawa and Mr. Ayre have been charged with cheating and forgery under the Indian Penal Code and remanded in police custody till August 1, officers said.
