A 59-year-old man was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police for allegedly steering a property loan fraud by forging documents, fake identity information, and shell companies to defraud a non-banking financial company (NBFC) in India as an owner of a ₹3 crore property loan fraud against which he had been involved in creating fake documents, fake identity of an NBFC with fake documents, fake name and shell companies and fake documents, and fake identities and shell companies to fake a genuine property loan fraud.
Maneesh Kumar, a resident of Laxmi Nagar, was arrested on 14th July after the EOW conducted a thorough inquiry. A criminal case has been registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for cheating, forgery, the issuance of forged documents as genuine, impersonation, and criminal conspiracy.
The investigation started after an authorised representative of Protium Finance Ltd., an NBFC, filed a complaint that a housing loan of around ₹3 crore had been fraudulently obtained for the purchase of a property located in D Block, Anand Vihar, Delhi.
The police discovered that a sale deed executed on November 9, 2022, was prepared using forged property documents, the report says. Further allegations were that an impersonator was on hand to be the genuine owner of the property while the transaction was going on and the fake documents were presented to financial institutions.
The biggest finding in the investigation was that the same property was sold twice in about 25 days through two different fraudulent sale deeds. The authors say investigators believe that those forged transactions were used to obtain loans from financial institutions, enabling the accused and his associates to obtain significant cash by deception.
Maneesh Kumar was projected as a genuine buyer of the property according to the police, but they said evidence gathered during the investigation proved he actually had an active involvement in the conspiracy. He also intentionally created false ownership records and fake identity documents and manipulated paperwork to facilitate the approval of the housing loan, said the police.
The investigation also uncovered another alleged case of identity fraud. In the loan documents, police said a deceased woman was portrayed as Kumar's wife and co-applicant, even though Kumar's wife was someone else. They believe this false information was intentionally added to meet the loan criteria and strengthen the fraudulent application.
Kumar also operated M/s Global Trading Company and used other business entities, including M/s Global Finance Ltd. and M/s Bankey Bihari Enterprises, as shell companies to transfer and divert the loan proceeds after disbursal, authorities have said. Financial investigators now are tracking banking transactions to determine how the money originated from these entities and if there were any other beneficiaries.
The EOW found several mobile phones, SIM cards, digital signature certificates, cheque books issued by different banks, point-of-sale (POS) machines, and various financial and property transaction documents during the search. The recovered material is currently undergoing forensic examination to reconstruct the financial trail and identify other individuals who may have participated in the fraud as well.
Police said Maneesh Kumar, who was a graduate by qualification, had been working as a financier and loan facilitator in East Delhi. Police also said he had changed his location many times to escape arrest. After technical surveillance, local intelligence gathering, and continued surveillance, officers tracked him to a rented accommodation in Laxmi Nagar where he was taken into custody.
Even though the case could be a broader conspiracy of individuals involved in property-related financial fraud, officials think it might be. The EOW is on the hunt for other conspirators, confirming other suspicious property transactions and tracing the proceeds of the crime.
Property fraud experts say forged sale deeds, identity theft, and shell companies are still the most common methods used by organized financial fraudsters to exploit lenders. They urge property owners to periodically verify ownership records, especially for vacant properties, and financial institutions must do due diligence: title verification, identity authentication, and independent legal scrutiny before authorizing high-value loans.
As the investigation continues, we have been told that other arrests and additional charges may be made if more evidence is available. This case is further evidence of the importance of robust document verification systems and anti-fraud systems in the real estate and financial sector in India.
Comments
Please to leave a comment on this article.