CHENNAI: CBI has registered a bank fraud case against a Chennai-based resident, a Bengaluru-based builder, an official of State Bank of India and a few other individuals who allegedly cheated SBI of Rs 7 crore.
The May 20 FIR was registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of CBI, Chennai, based on the directions of the Madras High Court which had heard a writ petition filed by SBI to file the case.
In the complaint, SBI said that Puzhuthivakkam resident and accused number 1A Murugan had used forged documents to apply for a housing loan from SBI’s Medavakkam branch in December 2018. This was to purchase a property in Bengaluru promoted and sold by Rishikaran Projects, owned by Rathanakar Shetty, accused number 2 and 3 respectively.
The complaint alleged that Murugan colluded with TK Balaji, the then branch manager and another accused in the case for availing the loan. Additionally, the project cost was inflated by Murugan with the help of Shetty to get a higher credit from the bank. Inflated valuation reports were obtained from valuers AVS Balasubramanya and C Ethiraj to get the bank to disburse a higher loan. Bank officials too disbursed the loan without checking the authenticity of the documents.
Balaji received a commission from a housing loan counsellor K Balasubramaniam from his commission, CBI said in the FIR. Balasubramaniam is also an accused in this case.
The entire loan turned into NPA in January 2021. During an inspection by SBI, the builder said he had shared Rs 1 crore of the loan with Murugan and also gave three cheques of Rs 2.5 crore to the bank to settle the issue; however, all three were dishonoured.