UCO Bank loses Rs 2.37 crore in car loan fraud

NAGPUR: A bank may float a scheme to make its customers' dream of owning a car come true but unscrupulous elements are out to capitalize on such opportunities. Crime branch has registered an offence of cheating and forgery at Sadar police station against 29 people, including four agents, for their alleged act of duping UCO bank by taking fake car loans to the tune of Rs 2.37 crore.The culprits have duped two branches- Swawlambi Nagar and Mount Road- of UCO bank in a fraud that was exposed by the internal auditors of the bank.
It is learnt that four agents- identified as Dhananjay Surkar, Mukesh Jadhav, Sudesh Pathak and Pankaj Tonge- had ensured that their 25 borrowers got car loans of various amounts. The agents had also opened fake accounts in different banks posing as proprietor of reputable car dealers. The loans disbursed to the borrowers were used for various purposes but not for purchasing vehicles.
Sources in Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of crime branch said the agents procured the loan disbursement cheques on behalf of their clients against the documents. The agents had deposited the cheques in fictitious accounts in the names of different car dealers. Police said agents retained some amount while delivering the rest to their clients. It is learnt the clientele includes businessmen, bullion traders, industrialists and others.
It is learnt the bank authorities, during an internal audit, discovered that car loans issued between September last year and December 26 this year were in default. The borrowers did not submit the car keys, copy of the RC books or other documents in the bank required after purchasing the vehicles with loan. The bank authorities approached the crime branch that immediately conducted searches in the premises of the four agents.
It is learnt joint commissioner of police Sanjay Saxena and deputy commissioner of police Sunil Kolhe had supervised the searches. Several documents were seized. Strangely, the police revealed names of the agents but not of the borrowers. Also, their premises had not been targeted. No arrest has been made in the case yet.