Nexus between fraudsters and bank employees at ICICI Bhinder (Udaipur) resulted in illegal and fraudulent disbursal of loans to the tune of Rs 3 Crore under the governments KCC Loan Scheme.

Deputy Manager of ICICI Bank (KCC Head) Onkar Lal has been arrested alongwith Bank employees and three fraudster who were allegedly involved in the fraud.

As per SHO Himanshu Singh, three alleged fraudsters, had prepared false documents using fake seals and stamps of village and taluk authorities and with the help of bank employees, arranged for fraudulent loans that go upto Rs 3 Crore in volume.

The fraudulent loans disbursed using fake document include 14 loans disbursed in village Karediya, 2 in Akol Khurd, 1 in Akolagarh, 1 in Arned, 2 in Beawer, 4 in Asavara, 1 in Charliya, 1 from Jhadeli, 1 in Nikumbh, 1 in Peepli, and i in Amarpura, taking the total to 36 disbursals, with volume reaching Rs 3 Crore.

Apart from Onkar Lal, Dy Manager at ICICI, two other persons, Ambalal Jat and Kalu Lal Suthar were also arrested, while the search for their assistant Narayan Lal is on.  The total loans disbursed through the fraudsters under the KCC scheme is 50 where the other accounts are being evaluated.  Police said that Onkar Lal, on initial interrogation said that he used to pass the files without proper verification procedures and that he also possessed a fake seal of Village Sarpanch on him.  These seals and stamps were used to forge land documents, which resulted in loans being disbursed.

A few months earlier, such fraud was discovered in the Udaipur branch of Syndicate Bank, where the main culprit was Chartered Accountant Bharat Bomb of Udaipur.

As per interrogation it was found that the alleged fraudsters had also arranged loans from SIB and BoB using fake documents.

Ideally, as per Banking Loan disbursal procedure, a loan document is verified by a Lawyer and assessor, to attest the existence of property against which loan is disbursed.  Hence ICICI Bhinder appointed lawyer Shailesh Paliwal of Fatehnagar is also alleged to be involved in the fraud and is being interrogated.

The fake loans were exposed after the Manager of ICICI Bhinder, Premchand Soni lodged a complaint in the local police station on 3 Septemer, alleging that fake documents were used to take a loan of Rs. 6.11 Lac.  This uncovered the entire modus operandi.  It is also alleged through initial interrogations that both Ambalal and Kalu Lal had taken loans using fake documents, on their name as well, and loans taken on others names were also utilised by them, after giving a fixed commission to the documented loanee.

What is KCC Scheme

Started in 1998 by the joint efforts of Government of India, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) KCC was designed to help farmers access timely and adequate credit. This facility allowed farmers to have cash credit facilities without going through time-consuming bank credit screening processes repeatedly. Repayment could be rescheduled during bad crop seasons while extensions were offered for up to four years. The scheme is valid for five years and subject to annual renewals. Withdrawals are made using slips, cards, and a passbook.