5 held for cheating Delhi bank of Rs 33 crore

Five men have been arrested here for allegedly duping a bank of nearly Rs 33 crore by taking loan from it against spurious gold in connivance with some of its officials, police said today.
The accused have been identified as Ram Prakash (31), Vijay Manchanda (55), Dushyant Manchanda (20), Satrughan Nayak (32) and Ravinder Kumar (40).
They have been arrested by the Economic Offence Wing of the Delhi Police in connection with two FIRs.
The first case was registered on the complaint of DGM of Dhanlaxmi Bank Muraleedharan C M. The bank provides banking services and loan against gold ornaments, they said.

"Advance against gold loan is granted on the net weight of gold in ornaments after proper verification by the bank's panel appraiser. During internal inspections, certain aberrations with regard to the gold pledged by Somnath Bobal was noticed following which an FIR was registered," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (EOW) Mangesh Kashyap.
The second FIR was also registered by the same bank. This was against Vijay Manchandaand and his 16 associates for securing loans amounting to approximately Rs 11 crore by pledging fake gold ornaments having negligible gold contents, he said.

Following an investigation, the case was cracked and the accused, including bank officials, were identified, said Kashyap.

Both the groups, one led by Somnath Bobal and the other by Vijay Manchanda, came into contact with the bank for the first time in 2010.
In 2013, Somnath Bobal along with his 14 associates took Rs 21.60 crore loan in 77 cases from the bank's branches in Karol Bagh and Connaught Place.
Bank officials and appraiser, who evaluated the gold content of the ornaments pledged by Bobal, also conspired to help the accused procure loan, the official said.
The loan amount deposited in the bank accounts of the associates of Somnath was ultimately transferred to his different accounts and was subsequently withdrawn by him, said Kashyap.

Similarly, Vijay Manchanda and his associates adopted the same modus operandi and took gold loan of Rs 11 crore.
Both the groups defrauded the bank to the tune of Rs 33 crores, he said.
It has come to the fore that the gold loan taken from the bank at 12 per cent rate of interest was further lent in the market at exorbitant rates of 20 to 24 per cent.
Arrest of more accused, including the bank employees, will be made soon, police said.