KOCHI: The nurses who are accused of defaulting on loans issued by a Kuwaiti bank gained the trust of authorities by repaying smaller loans they had availed earlier. Police are examining whether the defaulters are currently residing in India or are non-resident Indians (NRIs) in another country.
According to Thomas J Anakkallunkul, the lawyer representing Gulf Bank, as the nurses were recruited by Kuwait’s ministry of health (MoH), they could easily avail small loans with their salary certificate.
“They initially availed small loans, which were repaid on time. The bank then came forward to loan them larger amounts. They paid a few initial instalments. Subsequently, they quit their jobs and exited the country without informing bank authorities or settling the loans,” Thomas said.
According to him, much of the fraud happened between 2019 and 2022 when Indian nurses were leaving Gulf countries and migrating to countries in Europe and north America and Australia in droves. Nurses from other states are also involved in similar fraud.
“Loan defaulters believed that they would never get caught as they have no property in Kuwait. Most of the nurses used the loan amount to migrate to other countries and settle down. Some even purchased properties in the state. The majority of them are currently based in the UK and Canada. However, cases will be filed and the defaulters will have to face legal consequences as they have families in Kerala. However, as cheating cases are compoundable, they can end the proceedings by repaying the amount due to the bank,” Thomas added.
Ernakulam Rural police chief Vaibhav Saxena said cases have been registered on the basis of complaints that have been received.
He said that legal opinion would be sought in case there are hurdles to the investigation.
“There is no issue in proceeding with the investigation if the accused are Indian citizens. But we are examining whether the accused are currently residing in the country or are NRIs. The cases have been registered in various police stations and they will be probed individually,” he said.