Navi Mumbai fake loan case: Four more file complaints against trio - Hindustan Times
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Navi Mumbai fake loan case: Four more file complaints against trio

By, Navi Mumbai
Sep 11, 2020 01:06 AM IST

Days after three men were arrested for duping Navi Mumbai residents under the pretext of offering loans, four more persons have stepped forward with their complaint against the trio. Two of the accused were working in a non-banking financial institution and had duped scores of people using fake names using their knowledge of the loan process. They had committed a similar fraud in Thane in June.

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The Sanpada police, on Wednesday, took custody of the trio – Omkar Mhatre, 35, Rohit Nagwekar, 30, and Bhalchandra Palav, 27 from the APMC police station, where they were arrested on September 2.

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As Mhatre and Nagwekar were well versed with the documentation of the loans, they allegedly hatched the plan to dupe people under the pretext of loans.

“Previously, Nagwekar and Mhatre had duped people in a similar con in Naupada, Thane. The Naupada police had arrested them in June after which their accounts were frozen. We are collecting their financial records for the money trail,” said Keshav Dinde, assistant inspector at Sanpada police station.

As per their modus operandi, the accused would first print out documents to resemble a cooperative bank. These documents would look like printed loan applications with a randomised registration number to assuage any suspicions. So far, police have found that the men duped Navi Mumbai residents under the guise of two fake cooperative banks – one in Vasai and another in Dahanu.

Sanpada resident Savita Sakpal, 42, was trying for a loan last year to help her children’s new business but was not able to procure financial assistance. In December 2019, she came across a pamphlet in a regional newspaper promising quick and easy loans. The accused would print hundreds of pamphlets and then distribute it among newspaper vendors to be sent across.

Palav and Mhatre met Sakpal and introduced themselves to be working at the Vasai bank. Two of Sakpal’s friends, Sheetal Jedhe and Shobha Ghodke, also needed loans. Under the pretext of collecting processing fee, insurance fee and other documentation process for the loan approval, the accused had made the complainant women pay a total Rs 5.34 lakh between December 2019 and April 2020.

Police said they have also learnt of a new complaint against them in Nerul, where a few more persons were duped of a few lakh of rupees. Officials said they were in the process of registering the case and after the Sanpada police finished their investigation, the accused would be handed over to Nerul police for further interrogation.

At least two police stations in Thane district have inquired with the Navi Mumbai police about the accused after it was discovered that the men duped residents in their jurisdiction as well.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Farhan Shaikh is a reporter with Hindustan Times, Mumbai. He writes for the crime and legal team, along with reportage on Mumbai traffic issues.

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