Hefty loans sanctioned on inflated property valuation in Andaman Co-op Bank scam: Police
Andaman and Nicobar State Cooperative Bank Ltd
(ANSCBL) loan irregularities case involving Congress leader and former MP
Kuldeep Rai Sharma
has revealed that hefty loans in crores "were sanctioned with insufficient security coverage", a senior police officer said.
The ANSCBL policy mandates that at least 150 per cent of the loan amount must be secured through collateral. However, it was found that in many cases, hefty loans were sanctioned with insufficient security coverage, exposing the bank to higher financial risk, the officer said.
Probe revealed several instances of manipulation in property valuation certificates, and in a few cases, the role of Tehsildar is also under scanner, he said.
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"As per the bank policy, the lower valuation between the Tehsildar's report and that of the private assessor when sanctioning loans should be considered. But in many cases, forged higher valuation was considered while disbursing loans. This resulted in serious breach of policy and exposing the bank to a high-risk default," the senior officer said.
He further said, "It was also found that several original documents, including title deeds and mortgage agreements, were found missing from loan files, raising concerns about document handling and security protocols within the bank".
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As per the Enforcement Directorate, more than Rs 500 crore was fraudulently obtained through more than 100 loan accounts from the bank.
On July 30, a team of ED officers from Kolkata arrived in Port Blair and on July 31, they visited the ANSCBL office at Maulana Azad Road and Sharma's house at Junglighat in Port Blair and examined various people. They seized important data related to bank loan irregularity cases, an official said.
Sharma was the Congress Andaman MP from 2019 to 2024.
They also searched houses and offices of a few Port Blair traders/businessmen and former employees of ANSCBL, including ANSCBL managing director K Murugan.
On May 15, an FIR was lodged against Sharma in connection with loan irregularities in ANSCBL.
Apart from Sharma, others named in the FIR include the cooperative bank's former chairman, board members and directors/officials of the bank and several beneficiaries.
On July 18, the CID arrested the former MP in connection with the
ANSCBL loan irregularities
case. Sharma, who formerly served as the chairman of ANSCBL, was arrested from a private hospital in Port Blair where he was admitted due to health issues.
Police had received a complaint from the deputy registrar of the cooperative societies (HQs), which alleged gross irregularities in sanctioning loans to various people by the lender.
Since June 25, eight people have been arrested in connection with the scam, including ANSCBL managing director K Murugan, bank employee Kalaivanan, and six others. PTI
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