Patna police have booked eight people, including five borrowers, two direct selling agents, and a Delhi-based third-party verification firm, for allegedly defrauding the Bank of Baroda of approximately Rs 1.59 crore using forged documents. The case was registered at Kadamkuan police station on the basis of a formal complaint lodged by Naveen Kumar, the branch manager of the bank’s Khazanchi Road branch. According to the complaint, the accused managed to secure home loans and Suvidha loans by submitting fabricated employer records, forged bank statements, and counterfeit land ownership papers.
Non-Performing Assets Trigger Internal Audit
The alleged fraud came to light after the borrowers defaulted on their monthly instalments, prompting the bank to classify the accounts as non-performing assets. During the subsequent recovery process, officials initiated a scrutiny of the mortgaged properties and the supporting paperwork submitted at the time of sanction. The verification exposed extensive irregularities in the title deeds and income proofs, prompting the branch management to approach the police. Investigators are now tracking the trail of approvals from the initial application stage to final fund disbursement.
Discrepancies Emerge Across Four Major Loan Accounts
Records linked to the investigation indicate that substantial sums were disbursed across four primary accounts. Borrowers Chanda Devi and Dhananjay Kumar obtained Rs 32.28 lakh in home loans and Rs 3.71 lakh in Suvidha loans. Vijay Kumar Chaudhary was granted a Rs 47.40 lakh home loan alongside a Rs 3.67 lakh Suvidha loan, while Rekha Devi received Rs 40 lakh and Rs 4.50 lakh under the respective heads. A fourth borrower, Dinesh Kumar Chaudhary, secured a Rs 50 lakh home loan. While the cumulative value of these listed facilities surpasses Rs 1.81 crore, the initial police complaint cites an estimated embezzlement figure of Rs 1.59 crore, a variation that investigators believe stems from differences between sanctioned limits, actual drawdowns, or preliminary loss calculations.
Agents and Verification Agency Under Police Scrutiny
The First Information Report details a collaborative network involving two direct selling agents, Kanchan Kumari of Banka and Gautam Gambhir of Beur, who allegedly acted as intermediaries and facilitated the forged documentation to secure approvals. The scrutiny also extends to M/s Crux Risk Management Private Limited, an agency located in Ranjit Nagar, Delhi, which had been hired to conduct physical verifications of the borrowers’ employment details and properties. Bank officials stated that the credit facilities were cleared on the faith of verification reports supplied by the agency, raising questions over whether any physical inspections occurred before funds were released.
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