Bengaluru: A loan fraud involving Rs 4.5 crore has come to light after an internal investigation by ICICI Bank uncovered a criminal conspiracy in which fake liability-closure certificates were used to secure dozens of personal loans that would otherwise have been rejected.According to a complaint filed by the bank, personal loans worth Rs 4.5 crore were sanctioned to several customers after they executed agreements with the bank. However, the fraud surfaced following whistleblower information alleging that many of these loans had been approved on the basis of forged no-dues certificates (NDCs)/ loan closure certificates.An internal probe reportedly confirmed the allegations. The bank staff found that, at the initial stage, several loan applications were submitted with only the customers’ salary slips and bank statements. These applications were later rejected for failing to meet the bank’s fixed obligation to income ratio (FOIR) norms.The investigation revealed that fake NDCs were subsequently created and uploaded during the rework stage of the applications, falsely showing that the applicants had cleared their previous loan liabilities. Based on these forged documents, the applications were reconsidered, the outstanding liabilities in the applicants’ CIBIL records were waived (de-obligated), and the loans were eventually sanctioned.The complaint alleges that the forged documents were sourced through email IDs, allegedly linked to connectors associated with Pro Fincare and FinWizz Financial Services Private Limited, both acting as direct marketing associates (DMAs) for the bank.During the investigation, bank officials also scrutinised transactions linked to one Rajesh Dharmalingam. They found that 12 customers, whose loan applications had initially been rejected but were later approved after re-verification, transferred money to Dharmalingam’s ICICI Bank account shortly after receiving the loan amounts.The complaint states that one customer, Palani Shankar, allegedly admitted that Dharmalingam had negotiated a commission for getting the loan reprocessed and approved. The bank claims to possess a call recording supporting this allegation.The bank’s investigation concluded that 61 fake loan closure certificates had been created in connection with the personal loans. Of these, 22 loan applications were routed through Pro Fincare and six through FinWizz. The bank stated that forged NDCs sent from the email IDs linked to former connectors Sushant and Varun Gowda played a crucial role in securing approvals for 28 loan cases.The complainant urged police to conduct a detailed investigation and take appropriate legal action against the accused.A case has been registered under Information Technology Act and BNS at cybercrime police station against the companies and 31 others. Further investigation is in progress.
