Fraud Committed by Utkarsh Small Finance Bank Employees in Karnal, Haryana

In a recent incident, the branch manager and employees of Utkarsh Small Finance Bank located at Ambedkar Chowk in Karnal, Haryana, have been accused of committing fraud. The accused allegedly colluded with each other and increased the loan of a firm in Gharaunda from 49.99 lakhs to 84 lakhs using fake documents and signatures.

The victim, who was paying installments as per the original loan amount of 49.99 lakhs, discovered that he was being forced to pay installments as per the increased loan amount of 84 lakhs when he went to the bank to get his No Objection Certificate (NOC). It is important to note that the victim had not even received the loan of 84 lakhs that was claimed to be sanctioned.

Furthermore, the accused have also been accused of committing fraud of 3.86 lakhs. The victim confronted the accused, but they were unable to provide any satisfactory answers. As a result, the victim filed a complaint with the Superintendent of Police, Karnal, and a case has been registered against the accused at the Civil Lines Police Station.

The victim, Mayank, is the son of Sushil Kumar and a resident of Gharaunda. Mayank’s parents are partners in M/s Shriram Trading Company, a proprietor firm in Gharaunda. They had obtained a loan of 49.99 lakhs from Utkarsh Small Finance Bank on December 14, 2022, with a monthly installment of 54,616 rupees.

When Mayank’s parents needed a little more loan in December 2023, they contacted Amardeep Singh at the bank. Amardeep informed them that they could not be given more loan based on their current papers and suggested that Mayank become a partner in the firm. Mayank agreed and provided all the necessary documents to the bank. Mayank wanted the loan to be increased to 84 lakhs, which included the previous loan of 49.99 lakhs.

However, after the loan process was completed, Amardeep informed Mayank that only 25 lakhs could be transferred to his account at that time. Mayank refused to accept this and demanded the entire amount. Mayank claims that he arranged the money himself to run the firm in January 2024 and did not need the loan that was passed. The loan of 49.99 lakhs continued.

On February 1, 2024, Mayank applied to Amardeep to close the loan account of 49.99 lakhs. To his surprise, Amardeep informed him that he had already received a Demand Draft (DD) of 25 lakhs, which Mayank claims he never received. Amardeep had deliberately kept the DD with himself and did not deposit it in Mayank’s account. Amardeep also showed Mayank a fake sanction letter of 84 lakhs with fake signatures of his parents, which Mayank claims were never signed by his parents. Mayank has demanded a forensic investigation of the signatures.

Mayank further alleges that when he approached Ashish to close the loan, Ashish made several false closures. Mayank filed a complaint with the bank’s nodal officer, and after the complaint, a foreclosure of 50.59 lakhs was prepared on March 19, 2024. Ashish sent a WhatsApp message to Mayank’s brother’s number on April 2, 2024, asking him to deposit the amount within a week.

Mayank had transferred his loan to HDFC Bank Karnal Sector-8 branch and needed a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Utkarsh Bank to provide the necessary documents to HDFC Bank. Under pressure, Mayank gave a total of 54,53,000 DD and a cheque to the accused. Subsequently, a foreclosure of 54.46 lakhs was prepared on April 8, 2024. The accused threatened Mayank that if the payment was not deposited that day, another foreclosure would be made and money would have to be deposited accordingly.

Mayank also alleges that the accused deducted 95,475 rupees in the name of the April 2024 installment and 6,882 rupees in the name of interest. However, after Mayank complained to the nodal officer, this amount was returned. Mayank claims that the accused took an additional 3,89,475 rupees through collusion with each other.

The victim, Mayank, filed a complaint about the fraud, and based on the complaint, a case has been registered against Amardeep, Ashish, Tarsem, branch manager Ankur Kaushik, and Utkarsh Finance Bank. The police have initiated an investigation into the matter.