CHENNAI: A couple was arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths on Wednesday for cheating a private sector bank to the tune of `70 lakh by availing loans by mortgaging a government land as theirs.
The couple, identified as Isacc Ponsingh (55) and I Hilda (52), hailing from Tuticorin, settled in Chennai and running a departmental store, offered a government land in Guindy as surety to avail a loan of `70 lakh from a private bank. As the loan turned into a Non-Performing-Asset (NPA), the private bank decided to auction the property. It was then that the bank realised that they were cheated. Based on a complaint from the bank employee, the couple was arrested and produced before a magistrate who remanded them in judicial custody.
The couple submitted forged documents declaring them to be title owners of a government land measuring 2,040 sq ft in a prime location in Guindy. They even passed off the verification as genuine owners of the property.