The Directorate of Enforcement, Mumbai Zonal Office, conducted searches at multiple locations in Pune in connection with the vehicle loan fraud at State Bank of India (SBI), Pune.
A press statement issued on Saturday said the ED sleuths raided 12 spots including residences and offices of loan borrowers, car dealers as well as the then branch manager of SBI, on November 25 and 26, under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), as a part of the ongoing probe into the loan fraud case.
As stated in the press release, ED seized various high-end cars of the make BMW, Volvo, Mercedes, Land Rover from these premises under Section 17 of PMLA.
The fraud came to light in 2022 and the FIR was lodged at Shivajinagar police station against three persons including the then branch manager of SBI for illegal and fraudulent disbursement of loans for purchase of high-end cars in the name of a city builder, around 2018. The probe was later taken over by the CBI-ACB, Pune.
“The ED initiated investigation on the basis of FIRs registered by CBI ACB, Pune and Shivajinagar Police Station under various sections of IPC, 1860 and the PC Act, 1988,” a press release stated.
According to the ED, accused Amar Kulkarni, while serving as chief manager at SBI, University Road Branch, Pune during 2017–2019, allegedly misused his official position and criminally conspired with Aditya Sethia, Auto Loan Counsellor at SBI, Pune, along with certain borrowers, to cheat SBI by fraudulently processing and recommending high-value car loans.
As stated in the press release, the loans were approved using false documents. Investigation by the ED has revealed that accused borrowers fraudulently availed high-value car loans on the basis of forged documents and thereby cheated the bank.
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ED has alleged that Kulkarni had in pursuance of the said conspiracy, “improperly and dishonestly processed and recommended the high-value car loan proposals of the accused borrowers in violation of lending policy of the bank, without verification of the said forged documents.”
“In many loan cases, fake quotations with inflated amounts were submitted to the bank to increase the margin money included in the loan,” the ED stated in a press release.
As per the press release, investigation and search operations also revealed that “various high-value cars of the make BMW, Volvo, Mercedes, Land Rover etc. were purchased by borrowers on the basis of false documents in conspiracy with the loan agent and the branch manager of SBI,”.
“Search proceedings led to identification of various immovable properties purchased by the loan borrowers, incriminating documents as well as seizure of various high-end cars from their premises…” it stated.
