Diploma dropout uses techie's documents to get loans, MNC jobs

A diploma dropout not only got jobs at Mphasis and Convergys but also took loans from two banks and defaulted on payment. All this he did by impersonating a software engineer and misusing his academic certificates and other documents.

Mohammed Irfan, a native of Goa, impersonated Ravi Shankar Sharma, whom he had met during a job interview in 2008. He somehow pilfered Sharma’s CV and other documents which the latter had submitted for the interview, police said. So shrewd was Irfan that he managed to get a PAN card in Sharma’s name.

Mohammed then used these documents to land a job at Mphasis, an outsourcing firm. He later joined Convergys India Services Ltd, another outsourcing firm.

He didn’t stop at that. He got two credit cards issued in Sharma’s name and took loans from two banks but defaulted on payment. All went well until Sharma, oblivious of the impersonation, approached a bank in Hyderabad for a loan.

To his utter shock, the bank refused him loan, citing the default. A check of his credit worthiness on Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd (CIBIL), a credit information company, found that he was issued credit cards by two banks, besides a loan by a financial firm.

The data indicated the person using the two cards had defaulted on payment, police said.

Sharma approached the two banks, but his grievance wasn’t redressed. He then approached the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) but was told to take legal action. Sharma then made a complaint to the police.

Investigation by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Bengaluru police revealed that the two credit cards and the loan were linked to a salary account of Convergys in the name of Ravi Shankar Sharma.

Police checked the family details of the person known as Sharma and working at Convergys. The details matched with those of the original Sharma working in Hyderabad.
Police grew suspicious and detained Sharma working in Bengaluru and questioned him. Irfan confessed to impersonating Sharma, police said.

Joblessness drove to crime
He told the police how unemployment drove him to the crime. From Goa, he had moved to Hubballi with his mother and joined a polytechnic to study diploma in engineering. But he dropped out for want of money and then came to Bengaluru looking for a job. But with his low qualification, he couldn’t get any.

The CCB transferred Irfan’s case to the Mico Layout police who have now booked him for impersonation and forgery, based on Sharma’s complaint.