Mumbai: The city Crime Branch arrested a gang of seven people for allegedly defrauding multiple financial institutions by using forged documents to secure vehicle loans, with an estimated fraud amounting to ₹3.32 crore.
The key accused, Ravindra Dinanath Girkar alias Pardeep Ravinder Sharma (47), was arrested in Byculla on Thursday, based on intelligence from undercover sources. Police also arrested four more accomplices: Manish Subhash Sharma (39), Syed Naveed Syed Zulfiqar Ali (52), Danish Khan, Sainath Ganzi, and Khimsagi Bist, who were also arrested from Ahmedabad and Indore in MP.
The accused allegedly used forged documents, including fake PAN cards, Aadhaar cards, and property allotment letters, to obtain vehicle loans. The scam came to light after Sharma secured a ₹16.03 lakh loan from Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Pvt Ltd for a Mahindra Thar and defaulted in paying the monthly EMI. Investigations revealed that they similarly acquired loans for at least 10 vehicles, contributing to a total outstanding amount of ₹2.19 crore.
Further inquiries into the accused’s PAN card records uncovered a broader fraud, involving multiple business and personal loans, credit cards, and housing loans totalling ₹3.32 crore. Officials suspect that the accused manipulated vehicle serial, chassis, and engine numbers to resell the fraudulently acquired cars using forged documents. Advocate Aftab Qureshi for Zulfikar Ali said he was falsely implicated as no role was attributed to him.
The case was initially registered at Pantnagar police station in March 2023, but it transpired that there was multiple fraud. The case was later transferred to the Crime Branch. Investigators are now tracing additional vehicles obtained through fraudulent means and identifying other potential accomplices. Police said the modus operandi of the accused was to procure cars on loans, make forged documents, and sell them in other states.
The accused have been charged under sections 467 (forgery of valuable security), 34 (common intention), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Authorities have sought police custody for a detailed probe into the extent of the fraud and to recover the missing vehicles.
