Ghaziabad: An FIR has been filed against 18 people for allegedly posing as customers and cheating Federal Bank of nearly Rs 1.5 crore by securing loans against fake gold pledged as collateral in Kavi Nagar.Shazia Bano, senior manager and branch head of Federal Bank in Raj Nagar District Centre (RDC), alleged in the police complaint that the spurious ornaments were pledged or presented for gold loans at its branch, with several suspicious accounts referred by officials of Rupeek Fintech Private Limited, which assists customers with availing, repaying and closing gold loans under a business correspondent arrangement with the bank.On June 10 this year, a man named Deepanshu Bansal approached the branch along with an unidentified person to obtain a gold loan. They were also accompanied by Harsh, who claimed to be an official of Rupeek Fintech.“The ornaments were certified as genuine by Deepak Bhalla, an official of the bank’s empanelled valuation agency, Phobos Gold. However, during a random examination, bank officials found that the ornaments were spurious. Branch officials attempted to prevent the three people from leaving and alerted police, but they left the premises,” the manager said.CCTV footage and related evidence have been provided.The FIR states that a subsequent inquiry found that a family member of Bansal had previously obtained a gold loan from the branch. A review by branch officials and another independent valuer found spurious ornaments pledged in related accounts.The bank has since flagged several suspicious accounts sourced or referred by Rupeek officials Harsh and Anurag Singh. The involvement of certain Phobos Gold officials is also suspected as the ornaments had been certified as genuine, police said.So far, 21 loans amounting to Rs 1.46 crore granted from April to June have been flagged. In some cases, one person took double loans against fake gold ornaments.“The borrowers, assisted by Rupeek officials Harsh and Anurag Singh and Phobos Gold official Deepak Dhalla, wilfully pledged spurious ornaments with the bank, causing financial loss and hardship while securing illegal gains. Documents attached to the complaint include gold-loan applications, borrowers’ KYC documents and gold pledge cards executed when the loans were sanctioned,” Bano said.ACP (Kavi Nagar) Abhay Rajendra Daga said that an FIR has been registered against 18 persons, including the borrower and officials of Rupeek and Phobos Gold, under sections 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 336(3) (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 338 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 340 (2) (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) and 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy) of the BNS. Teams have been formed to nab the accused and an investigation is underway.
