Nagpur: A major financial fraud involving an alleged loan scam of Rs 1.40 crore has surfaced at the Ajni Square branch of Saraswat Co-operative Bank, with Dhantoli Police registering a case against an elderly couple accused of securing the loan by mortgaging properties using forged documents.
The accused have been identified as Purushottam Mohanlal Tapadia (60) and his wife, Geeta Purushottam Tapadia (55), originally from Akot and presently residing in Dnyaneshwar Society in Mankapur.
The case was registered following a complaint lodged by Swapnali Amit Patrikar (42), Branch Manager of the Ajni Square branch of Saraswat Co-operative Bank. Patrikar, a resident of Deendayal Nagar, approached police after an internal audit allegedly uncovered serious irregularities in the loan account.
According to the complaint, Purushottam Tapadia, who is engaged in the grain trading business, had sought substantial financial assistance from the bank for business expansion. To obtain the loan, the couple allegedly submitted fabricated documents pertaining to a plot of land and a residential property, projecting them as valuable assets for mortgage.
Relying on the documents furnished by the applicants, the bank sanctioned a loan of Rs 1.40 crore against the mortgaged properties. However, during an internal audit conducted recently, officials reportedly found significant discrepancies in the valuation and ownership records of the properties offered as collateral.
Sources said the scrutiny revealed that the market value of the mortgaged assets was substantially lower than the amount sanctioned by the bank. Further verification allegedly exposed forged property-related documents and misrepresentations used to obtain the loan facility.
Following the audit findings, bank officials initiated a detailed review of the transaction before lodging a formal complaint with Dhantoli Police.
Based on the complaint, police have registered offences of cheating, forgery, use of forged documents and criminal conspiracy against the accused. Investigators have begun examining the property records, valuation reports and loan sanction process to determine the extent of the fraud and identify whether any other individuals were involved in facilitating the transaction.
Police sources indicated that investigators are also probing whether the forged documents were prepared by a larger network of document forgers and whether similar fraudulent loans may have been obtained using the same modus operandi.
The case has raised serious concerns over the verification mechanisms employed in high-value loan approvals and has prompted a deeper examination of the circumstances under which the loan was sanctioned.
Further investigation is underway.
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