Mumbai Crime: City banker booked by Punjab police for fraud

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A city-based banker, Sanjeev Makkar, has been booked by Kotwali police of Bathinda, for allegedly clearing a loan of Rs 12.5 crore in connivance with Rajinder Gupta, an exporter, a year back. Gupta had applied for a loan in the Kikkar branch of a nationalised bank. Makkar is one of four bankers posted there then, who have been booked in the case.

Sources said that Makkar, an assistant general manager, who is now posted at the bank's branch in Bandra West, went on leave on Monday when the case was registered. He was booked on the complaint of Kunal Garg, also an exporter. "Gupta had applied for Working Capital Limit and his wife, daughter, sister-in-law and one more relative were the guarantors. When he failed to repay the loan, the matter was escalated to the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) which issued summons to me in January 2019," Garg told mid-day.

"I used the Right to Information Act to find the type of fraud and learnt that Gupta, in connivance with banking officials, forged my signature and other documents to procure a non-fund base limit of R10 crore and cash credit limit of R2.50 crore from the bank. Thereafter, I approached Kotwali police and registered the case," Garg said.

"The seized documents have been sent for cyber forensic analysis. The involvement of banking officials cannot be ruled out," said Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar. The Kikkar branch Deputy General Manager Praveen Singla, Assistant GM Gurpreet Singh Bhatia, Chief Manager Sushil Jain and Makkar are the four bankers booked. But there has been no arrest.

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