Forgery gang busted, one held

Gurugram: A 31-year-old man was arrested by a Faridabad crime team on Tuesday for allegedly using forged documents to buy cars on loans

Gurugram: A 31-year-old man was arrested by a Faridabad crime team on Tuesday for allegedly using forged documents to buy cars on loans. The man was identified as Satyender aka Satte, aka Vikrant of Mirzapur in Faridabad.

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Satyender, along with three others, is part of a gang which forged Aadhaar cards, bank statements, voter identity cards and driving licenses to commit fraud. More than 10 Aadhaar cards, bearing different names, and numbers but with the same photograph were recovered from him, police said.

According to Narender Kadian, deputy commissioner of police (crime), the gang which was formed a year ago and targeted at least six banks and a dozen companies providing car loans. “The perpetrators worked in different sectors and were finding it difficult to make ends meet. They are all friends and planned to commit crimes for money,” he said.

Kadian informed that after discussing and planning, they decided to take loans on Aadhaar cards belonging to people from the lower strata. “They approached people in slum areas and offered them ₹10,000 for their Aadhaar card. Following this, the suspects forged picture and addresses on the cards and applied for car loans. The gang opened more than 100 bank accounts on forged documents,” he said.

Joginder Singh, in-charge, crime unit, Sector 85, said that the gang members maintained their bank accounts for at least three months and used to take small loans, repaying them on time. “After the suspects proved their credit worth, they made down payment on cars and get loans approved. The cars were later sold in other states with the help of forged documents,” he said.

Police said the incident came to light after many cars were sold and monthly installments were not paid to banks. Police have sent notices to banks and loan providers to join the investigation.

The suspects were booked under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged document as genuine) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

Three cars and one motorcycle purchased through forged documents were recovered by the police.

“The suspects misused quick finance services provided by many agencies to buy cars using fake documents. They then sold these vehicles to gullible people at rates lower than the market price. The suspects used to con financial companies using the same method. The gang members targeted firms in different localities to escape coming under police scanner,” Kadian said.

By the time finance companies realised that documents submitted by them were fake, it was too late. Police found it difficult to locate the suspects because the information on the documents was incorrect.

Kadian said one of the suspects who is yet to be arrested knew ways to dodge the verification system and was aware of its loopholes. “We are also looking into the possible involvement of employees of finance firms who allowed processing of fake documents submitted by the gang,” he added.