Axis Bank officials, agents arrested in Rs 3.60 crore fraud

Naupada police with the recovered money. Pic/Sameer Markande

The Naupada police arrested seven people, including three Axis Bank sales officers, for allegedly sanctioning personal loans to people who are not eligible. The fraud amount is pegged at around Rs 3.60 crore.

The arrested accused have been identified as Rohit Bhavsar (sales manager), Chetan Shere (sales executive), Nitin Ghadigavkar (CPA staff officer) along with agents Girish Bhoir, Prashant Kir Saeed Shaikh and Ravindra Thakur. Three other agents Nilesh Mhatre, Uday Shinde and Roshan Pathak are said to be absconding.

According to police sources, the matter came to light, after the internal fraud control unit of Axis Bank noticed fraudulent documents. Later, they learnt that the three sales officers were giving personal loans meant for the poor on the basis of forged documents. Out of Rs 3.60 crore, the police have managed to recover Rs 1.10 crore from the accused.

Investigation officer Sanjay Dhumal said, "The bank officers got in touch with loan agents, who brought needy people and disbursed a personal loan up to Rs 7 lakh on forged documents. However, they would give only Rs 5 lakh, while distributing the remaining Rs 2 lakh between the officers and the agents. The accused would hack into the account of their superiors and pass the loan without reporting the matter to the bank manager."

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