A tenant, a fake PAN and ₹18 crore: How this Delhi woman became the victim of an alleged loan fraud

A Delhi woman who rented out two of her flats to men posing as businessmen allegedly became the victim of a massive identity fraud, with one of the tenants using forged documents in her name to secure loans worth ₹18 crore, according to a report by the Indian Express. 

Investigators said the money was taken in the names of different companies, routed through 11 shell companies, and later withdrawn. One accused has now been arrested, while another is still absconding.

Flats rented out

The case dates back to June 2012, when 55-year-old Usha Rani Sethi, a widow from East Delhi's Vivek Vihar, was looking for tenants for two newly purchased flats in Block D.

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According to police, she was approached by two men, Sachin and Sanjay, who said they urgently needed accommodation. Sachin allegedly introduced himself as the owner of a metal trading company, Jagdamba Metals, while Sanjay claimed to be his associate.

"I had rented out the flat on the second-floor to Sachin for around ₹47,000 and the smaller one on the third to Sanjay for ₹17,000. The rent deeds were registered at the Sub-Registrar's office. After some time, both of them left," Usha told police.

Police later found that Sachin allegedly never intended to stay at the property.

"Officers found Sachin never intended to live in Usha's flat. He just wanted a rent agreement so they could get the details of the property and of Usha that he could use later to obtain loans, mortgages and an overdraft," an officer said.

Loan fraud uncovered

The alleged fraud came to light in April 2013, when two Supreme Court advocates arrived at Usha's home and told her she had allegedly taken a ₹70 lakh loan against her flats from Punjab and Sind Bank and had failed to repay it.

Shocked by the claim, Usha approached the police. Investigators later found that loans worth a total of ₹18 crore had allegedly been obtained using forged documents carrying her name. According to police, the loans were taken in the names of different companies for business purposes before the money was routed through 11 shell companies and withdrawn.

"They claimed that she had transferred the sale deed (ownership) of the property to accused Sachin. He had, however, produced documents bearing Usha's name to avail loans. She saw the documents and found there was a copy of a PAN card bearing her name, but with a different picture. The signatures were not hers either," said a police officer.

During the investigation, police visited the Sub-Registrar's office and were told that a woman identifying herself as Usha had visited the office in February and submitted the required documents. Officers later established that she was not the complainant.

"The accused managed to source the PAN card of another Usha Rani Sethi from Odisha. This person had no connection with the complainant. They then hired another woman who went to the Sub-Registrar office impersonating Usha. The accused bypassed the document-verification mechanism at the Sub-Registrar's office," a senior officer said.

Property transferred

Police said the investigation revealed that the property had allegedly been transferred to Sachin, while loans worth ₹18 crore were taken by him and his brother-in-law Sanjeev Dixit in the name of Jagdamba Metals.

Investigators believe the accused used forged identity documents and the registered tenancy agreement to gain access to the complainant's property records before allegedly carrying out the fraud.

Case reopened

After the investigation went cold, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police reopened the case. A team led by Additional CP Ravi Kumar and SI Rahul reviewed the documents and found that Dixit had allegedly been using multiple aliases.

"In 2011, Dixit was booked by the CBI in a cheating case. He was also involved in 10 other cases, including ones under the Prevention of Corruption Act registered with the CBI and the ACB," said a police officer.

Police said Dixit was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police in 2017 but escaped while being escorted to court. After spending nearly a decade hiding in different cities, he was arrested again by the CBI in January this year and lodged in Tihar Jail.

On June 25, Delhi Police arrested him again in connection with the case. The search for his brother-in-law Sachin is still underway. Police said they have not confirmed Sanjay's involvement in the alleged fraud.