Hyderabad: Couple gets 7 years’ jail for cheating banks of Rs 24 lakh in housing loan scam

Hyderabad: A city court at Nampally on Wednesday sentenced a husband and wife to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for defrauding public sector banks of Rs 24 lakh by submitting forged property documents to obtain housing loans.

Convicts identified

The accused were identified as Dasarath Naik and Lakshmibai. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on each after holding them guilty in a long-pending housing loan fraud case.

Fraud is from 2007

According to the prosecution, the offence occurred in 2007, when the accused secured a Rs 24 lakh housing loan from the State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH), Air Cargo Branch, using fabricated ownership documents.

The investigation further revealed that the couple had similarly cheated State Bank of India, State Bank of Mysore and Canara Bank.

How the fraud was committed

The couple allegedly created and submitted fake sale deeds, forged General Power of Attorney (GPA) documents, fabricated mortgage papers, bogus sale agreements, manipulated property registration records, forged signatures and using these documents they falsely projected ownership of properties to obtain loans.

CID investigation and evidence

The case was investigated by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which later filed a charge sheet.

During the trial 17 witnesses were examined, nearly 60 documents, including forged sale deeds, GPA papers, mortgage records and registration documents, were produced before the court. The prosecution successfully proved the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

Court’s ruling

After hearing arguments from both sides, the Nampally court observed that the accused had committed deliberate and systematic bank fraud, causing significant loss to public money and undermining trust in the banking system.

The court sentenced both to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 each.