Big Agriculture Loan Fraud in SBI in Nagpur Maharashtra

A big Agriculture Loan Fraud has been reported in State Bank of India (SBI) in Nagpur Maharashtra. Nagpur Rural Police has busted an inter-state gang that had taken agricultural loans worth Rs 73 crore 82 lakh 92 thousand 850 from the State Bank of India (SBI) by preparing fake documents in the name of poor and less educated farmers in Nagpur district.

Three accused have been arrested in the case. A total of 18 cases have been registered against them under various sections so far.

On November 1, the Economic Offences Wing team detained Dr. Madan Gopal Mallikarjun Patil (26) from Bengaluru, followed by the arrest of Priyaranjan Ashok Kumar Chaudhary alias Gaurav Mishra alias Gaurav Jaiswal (42) and Rahul alias Sandeep Satish Dubey (37) from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, on November 3.

The gang members would target poor, illiterate and less educated farmers and first win their trust. They were told that it was necessary for them to open an account in SBI to get Rs 10,000 assistance from the government every year in lieu of crop loss.

Under this pretext, farmers were taken to the bank with their Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, and land records. They were then forced to sign the bank documents. Using these documents, agricultural loans worth lakhs of rupees were taken in the farmers’ names.

The gang took loans of ₹54,694,285 from the Mouda branch of SBI and ₹19,135,000 from the Ramtek branch. This fraud totaled ₹73,829,2850. Investigations have revealed that the loan funds were transferred to the bank accounts of fictitious companies established.

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Questions raised on Bank

There is another important twist in this case. Whenever a loan is sanctioned, bank officers generally visit the customer’s residence and property to verify the details. They also check the relevant documents and discuss the loan requirements with the customer before proceeding with the sanction and disbursement process.

In this case, if the farmers were unaware that they were signing loan documents, an important question arises: Why did they not ask the bank employees about the purpose of the documents they were signing? At the same time, did the bank employees not explain the nature and purpose of the loan documents to the customers before obtaining their signatures? Were the mandatory verification procedures followed properly?

These questions raise serious concerns and need to be investigated. More details about this case will be shared as they emerge.

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