Bank con’s heist plot is nixed in the nick of time
It has the ring of a Hollywood bank heist flick, but with a difference – there was no hostage taking, no bloodshed – the protagonists just worked the system from within to carry out a `2.7-crore fraud.
This amount, swindled from an ICICI Bank branch in the Capital, was just the tip of the booty of `200 crore that they had set their eyes on.
But before they could carry out the entire plan, the Delhi Police busted the gang – working with insider help from the bank – and arrested seven of them.
Busted: All seven accused in the fraud have now been arrested
Their plan was simple: get fake insurance policies and mortgage them for loans subverting the bank’s verification process.
The gang mortgaged 12 such policies to bag the `2.7-crore loan.
It all began when the alleged kingpin, 36-yearold Ajit Pundhir, started working as a freelance agent for the ICICI Bank. The plot started How To Find LIC Policy Number By Name take shape when he befriended Ram Nivas and Prem Prakash, from the loan against securities division of the bank.
He found out that the verification process of insurance policies was carried out by field executives themselves and if they could be roped in, fake policies could be passed off as original.
Prem’s lover, Vandana
Pundhir lured Ram Nivas and Prem Prakash into being a part of his plan. They also roped in Prem’s brother Anil Kumar, an employee of the Life Insurance Corporation of India.
With the help of Anil, the gang managed to get 24 blank LIC policy forms, from its office in Jeevan Tara building on Sansad Marg.
‘Pundhir got 12 of the fraudulent LIC policies ranging from `25 to `50 lakh.
He then submitted them as mortgage between February, 2011 and January, 2012 for obtaining the loan,’ Ashok Chand, DCP (crime), said.
The fake LIC policies were cleared as original with the help of Ram Nivas and Prem Prakash.
The fraud came to light only when Pundhir defaulted on the repayment of an instalment of the loan. Bank officials smelled a rat and started examining the policy mortgaged against the loan.
‘They checked with LIC officials who informed that the policies were nonexistent and that they had never been issued by the LIC office.
LIC officials then filed a formal complaint,’ Chand added.
The police also arrested three others, including Prem Prakash’s girlfriend Vandana and her parents, who were beneficiaries of the scam.
