Punjab Gramin Bank Ex-Manager and Loan Agent Booked for Rs.9 Crore Fraud
Mohali: A former manager of the Punjab Gramin Bank’s Naraingarh Jhugian branch in Derabassi and a private loan agent have been booked for causing a loss of ₹9 crore to the bank. They allegedly approved many fake loans using forged documents. The accused are former branch manager Harjeet Singh and loan agent Neeraj Kumar Kochhar.
The complaint was filed by Anil Kumar, chief manager of the bank’s regional office. He said that between July 4, 2022, and November 2024, when Singh was posted at the Naraingarh Jhugian branch, he approved 62 fake loans without doing the required checks. Singh has now been suspended.
The fraud came to light during an internal inspection by a team from Kapurthala. The team noticed suspicious loan patterns. They found that salary slips, Form 16s, bank statements, job certificates and KYC documents attached with the loan applications were fake. When the bank traced some applicants, they said they never applied for loans. Others could not be located. The investigation showed that the loan amounts were directly or indirectly transferred to Singh’s Punjab National Bank account and Kochhar’s Axis Bank account.
According to the inquiry report, Kochhar brought fake borrowers and prepared forged documents to make the loan applications look real. The signatures on many loan forms did not match the signatures on ID documents. Even then, the branch manager cleared the loans without checking. The bank concluded that both accused worked together to cheat the institution.
After finding the irregularities, the bank prepared a detailed report and sent it to the higher authorities. The authority then instructed the bank to file a report with the police. The bank first approached the CBI, but after the agency refused to take the case, the bank filed the complaint with the Punjab Police and an FIR was registered.
The case has been registered under Sections 316(5) (criminal breach of trust), 318(3)/318(4) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by impersonation), 336(2)/336(3)/338 (forgery), 340(2) (using forged documents), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
