New Delhi: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police has busted a loan racket wherein the accused, with connivance of officials from Punjab National Bank (PNB), sanctioned a loan to the tune of Rs 7.5 crore for opening a high-end luxurious F Bar & Lounge in Delhi's Connaught Place.
Investigators on Friday said they arrested four men, including PK Varun, the assistant general manager of the Brady House branch of PNB in Mumbai. The other accused have been identified as Amarjeet Singh, Ajay Kumar Sharma and Suresh.
Delhi Police said that after the Nirav Modi fiasco – which also involved the Brady House branch – came to light, Singh left his addresses, whereabouts and switched off his phone as his loan was also connected with this branch.
Additional Commissioner of Police (EOW) Suvashis Choudhary said that the loan was disbursed on fabricated documents as the collateral offered by the accused against the loan never existed.
It was also revealed that the actual holder of this account, which had been opened by Varun, had never visited the Brady House branch.
All formalities for opening of the account, as well as the equitable mortgage of property, were facilitated in Delhi by Varun, in violation of the existing norms and standard operating procedure of the bank.
"False documents and reports regarding the site inspection and the revenue records were prepared to facilitate the loan. PK Varun's son was involved in the operation of F Bar & Lounge and owned 20 per cent share in the company which ran the lounge," said Choudhury.
He further said that cops first arrested Singh and later nabbed the others. The modus operandi of the accused involved to obtain the loan on the basis of forged and fabricated sale deeds of the property being offered as collateral security with the banks.
Moreover, an account at PNB's Mayur Vihar Phase-III branch in Delhi was opened on the basis of fake documents, in the name of one Sarita, with help from the then branch manager Sheetal Garg.
Cops said that the Rs 49.90 lakh loan obtained by the accused was withdrawn as cash and used for setting up of a temporary factory at Surajpur in Gautam Buddh Nagar, so that further loan can be obtained by showing the factory in working condition.
Later, Sharma – the accused who facilitated sanctioning of the loan in connivance with Singh – opened a shell/dummy company namely Ply Mouth Ventures Pvt Ltd, with its office in Mumbai.
Suresh was made one of the directors in this company and they availed Rs five crore cash credit facility in the name of this shell company.
This loan amount was further transferred into other accounts and siphoned off.
The accused also obtained Rs two crore overdraft facility from the same bank, which was also transferred into another account and misappropriated.
Police explained that these amounts were sanctioned against the collateral security of the properties situated at Delhi, which were bogus and never existed.
The accused bank officials also prepared a false site visit report regarding the property which never existed. A senior police officer said that a part of the amount to the tune of Rs seven crore disbursed by the Brady House branch was utilised in the opening of the F Bar & Lounge in Connaught Place.
After functioning for three years, the establishment was closed, without repaying the loans and others liabilities.
Choudhury added that the bank accounts of the accused persons where the loan amount was disbursed and thereafter siphoned off were identified and have been frozen.
Investigation is underway to unearth details of the properties and assets acquired by misappropriation of the loan amount.
Raids are also being conducted to arrest the absconding branch manager. It was also found that there are several cases have been registered against these persons in Delhi-NCR.