Delhi Crime: Couple arrested in multi-crore loan fraud, mortgaged same property multiple times to private banks

Delhi Crime: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police has arrested a prime accused who allegedly cheated private banks by mortgaging the same property multiple times, officials said Thursday.

According to the EOW, the case dates back to November 2019 when Manish and his wife, Anita, both directors of a private limited company, approached a private bank’s Rajouri Garden branch seeking an overdraft facility of Rs 3 crore.

As collateral, they submitted a sale deed for a third-floor residential property in Dwarka, claiming it was unencumbered and owned by Anita. Based on these representations, the bank sanctioned the loan, EOW in a statement said.

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However, after the couple defaulted and went untraceable, the bank launched an internal inquiry and discovered the same property had already been mortgaged to another private bank for another loan of Rs 2.7 crore, said the EOW

The submitted sale deed was found to be fake and the signatures of of the Sub-Registrar were forged.

“Following a complaint from the first private bank, an FIR was registered in December 2022 under Indian Penal Code sections related to criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy. The investigation revealed that the couple had fabricated multiple sale deeds of the same property and used them to obtain financial facilities from various banks. They also forged address proofs and financial documents,” an EOW officer said.

Anita was arrested in April 2024. Manish, who had been evading arrest since then, was apprehended on April 28.

According to the EOW, Manish, 45, was born and raised in government quarters near Teen Murti Marg. An arts graduate, he previously worked as a small-time cloth agent before acquiring a private company in 2018 and starting a garment manufacturing unit in Uttam Nagar.

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To expand his business, he allegedly misused banking systems by securing loans through forged documents and then absconded, read the statement.

Further investigation into the case is ongoing, and more arrests or disclosures are expected.