Two held for duping NBFC of ₹25.37 crore

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police recently arrested a 62-year-old man and his 38-year-old son from Odisha for allegedly cheating a Powai-based

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police recently arrested a 62-year-old man and his 38-year-old son from Odisha for allegedly cheating a Powai-based non-banking financial company (NBFC) to the tune of ₹25.37 crore.

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The accused, hired by the Powai firm as their loan recovery agent in Odisha, had collected money from the borrowers, but instead of depositing it, used it for their own purposes.

Khirodchandra Malik and his son, Debabrata, Malik, 38 — both directors of Credible Micro Finance Limited (CMFL), an Odisha-based NBFC — were arrested by the EOW general cheating-1 unit officers on Monday under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

EOW officers said the complainant, Suman Dev, national litigation manager of Fullerton India Credit Company Limited (FICCL), in his complaint said that the company had made a deal with CMFL in May and July 2010. “CMFL had given a loan of ₹79.69 crore to 51,000 people in Odisha. FICCL bought these loans from CMFL. As per their contract, FICCL hired CMFL as their recovery agent in Odisha for these loans,” said an EOW officer. When FICCL contacted CMFL about getting irregular updates, their top functionaries started avoiding them, said the officer. On following up, CMFL gave the complainant some cheques, but they bounced. “Later, FICCL found that CMFL had collected ₹25.37 crore from the customers, but instead of depositing it with FICCL, they had used it for their own purpose,” said the officer. FICCL approached the police in 2012 and the case was taken over by the EOW.

The accused went into hiding but the EOW traced their location recently and arrested them.