'Clubbing' fraud: Panel to act tough
Responding to the pressing demand from the Dalit victims of the financial fraud called ‘clubbing’, Kerala State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes chairman P N Vijayakumar will conduct a sitting in the district panchayat hall here on Saturday.
Vijayakumar told Express that he is “deeply disturbed at the reports that document how marginalised are exploited in a sophisticated manner.” “The commission will recommend strict action if SC people are cheated,” he said. ‘Clubbing’ involves several stages and is seemingly operated by a powerful racket that consists of professional financial fraudsters and certain bank officials. The practice of fraudulently taking loans of comparatively huge amounts by exhibiting the documents of victims as collateral by an organised gang is locally referred to as ‘clubbing.’
“With the advent of conservative policies in banking, it has become difficult for the marginalised sections to get access to formal credit. This context is a fertile ground for ‘clubbing.’ The primary target of the gang is people with some kind of property and who are badly in need of credit. In Ernakulam, Dalits who own five to 12 cents of land as homestead form the major chunk of the victims,” says K K Mani, chairman of the defence committee formed by several victims.
According to Mani, initially the gang approaches the target victims with a promise that they will arrange loan from a mainstream bank. “The gang convinces them that they have good relation with bank officials. The victims fall in the trap and sign all documents given by the gang. Meanwhile the gang will fabricate the documents with the help of bank officials and obtain a huge amount of loan ranging from `25 lakh to `1 crore. Only a small portion of the loan amount will be distributed to the victims. The gang usurps the major chunk of the loan amount. The victims will come to know about the cheating only when the banks concerned invoke the draconian SARFAESI Act to attach the property,” he said.The massive gathering of such victims and their family members on the ‘Thiruvonam’ day at Thrikkakara, the epicentre of Onam celebrations in the district, had shaken the public conscience. While most of the people in Thrikkakara were busy celebrating Onam coloured with the traditional splendid meals, the victims opted to fast.