3 booked for ₹11.47-crore private bank loan fraud

The accused took a loan of over ₹5 crore from the bank. However, despite the loan and mortgage agreement, the mortgaged property was allegedly used again to secure another loan from a co-operative bank without the consent of the first bank and based on a forged

A fraud amounting to ₹11.47 crore has come to light at the Fergusson College Road branch of a prominent private bank. Police have filed a complaint against the accused identified as Manik Bihani and Satish Bhutada, partners of firm M/s Rohit Service Station, and Rohit Bihani, who stood as guarantor and mortgagor in the loan arrangement.

Police inspector Deepali Bhujbal said that an offence against the accused has been lodged at Shivajinagar Police Station on August 6. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

According to the complaint filed by Kaushik Suresh Patil, a senior official of the bank, with the Pune Economic Offences Wing, the accused took a loan of over ₹5 crore from the bank. However, despite the loan and mortgage agreement, the mortgaged property was allegedly used again to secure another loan from a co-operative bank without the consent of the first bank and based on a forged NOC (no objection certificate).

Rohit Service Station had taken an overdraft and term loan of ₹5 crore from the private bank for business purposes in March 2017. Over time, the account turned into a non-performing asset (NPA) due to non-repayment. Even after being classified as NPA, no repayments were made by the borrowers, amounting to ₹11.47 crore. Instead, it was later discovered that the mortgaged property had been illegally sold and further pledged to another bank without informing the original lender. The accused allegedly filed a false police complaint to obtain duplicate property documents and used them to facilitate the fraud.

Police inspector Deepali Bhujbal said that an offence against the accused has been lodged at Shivajinagar Police Station on August 6.