Two 'builders' dupe home-buyers of Rs 20 crore

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) on Thursday arrested two men who posed as builders and cheated several home-buyers of Rs 20 crore.

The duo promised loans from nationalised banks and managed to secure KYC (know your customer) details from prospective buyers and duped them.

The accused have been identified as Manjunath G (34) of Basaveswara Nagar, a native of Mysuru, and his associate Ranganath (37), a resident of Kengeri. Police have recovered two high-end cars and a laptop from the accused.

DCP (crime) Ravi Kumar said the accused created fake documents to show they were building an apartment and promised the victims loans from nationalised and private banks. They took loans to the tune of Rs 20 crore using the clients' documents.

"When the victims demanded to see the property, the accused would take them to under-construction apartments belonging to other builders," he said.

The accused had created a fake bank account in the name of a builder. Once the victims paid the money, they transferred the amount to their personnel accounts.

The fraud happened over the past one and a half years.

Kumar added that the duo was working as agents for executives of a private bank that sanctioned loans. They would contact applicants and offer them loans. After collecting their KYC details, they would submit the same to their contacts in the bank and get loans sanctioned to their accounts.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused had submitted fake documents of properties to many nationalised and private banks.

Police suspect the role of some bank officials and others in the fraud. They have also issued notices to banks that sanctioned loans without verifying the documents.

On December 28, Ravi Kumar S, one of the victims, filed a complaint with High Ground police that he was cheated by the duo. The case was later transferred to the CCB, which in turn investigated the case and arrested the accused.