CBI arrests Rs 17 crore bank fraud absconder living under fake identity in Goa

New Delhi, Dec 18 The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a Proclaimed Offender (PO), Director of M/s House of Laptops (I) Pvt. Ltd., Pune, who is accused in a Bank Fraud Case amounting to Rs 17 crore and was absconding, officials said on Thursday.  

The name of the accused is Ashutosh Pandit, and the case pertains to a bank fraud involving the Indian Overseas Bank, Pune.

According to the CBI, the case was initially registered with the Economy Offences Wing (EOW), Mumbai and subsequently transferred to CBI, Pune, where the trial is presently pending.

“Persistent and sustained efforts were made to trace the accused during the course of investigation as well as after filing of the charge-sheet in the year 2013; however, he remained untraceable,” the CBI said in its press note.

After completion of all prescribed legal formalities, the accused was declared a Proclaimed Offender in April 2018.

“Subsequently, based on inputs generated through the NATGRID Portal, it was found that the accused Ashutosh Pandit had changed his identity as Yatin Sharma, having a residential address at Bambolim, Goa,” it said.

The accused had changed his PAN card, Aadhaar card and passport. He had initially obtained a passport from New Delhi, and upon its expiry, he procured another passport from Goa.

The CBI conducted a meticulous operation, duly supported by technical evidence and successfully apprehended the Proclaimed Offender at his new residence.

Notably, a special CBI court in Chennai on November 21 convicted two private firms and two individuals in a bank fraud case involving more than Rs 4 crore, bringing to an end a 15-year-long trial that began after Canara Bank flagged serious irregularities in loan disbursal.

Investigators found that the accused firms - operated by Nazeer Ahmed, his wife Fathima Rizwana, and others - entered into a criminal conspiracy with senior bank officials, including Chief Manager T. Rajendran and panel valuer K.S. Ashok, during 2007-08.

The accused allegedly misused the bank’s trust, submitted fabricated documents, and fraudulently availed loans and bank guarantees worth Rs 405.47 lakh from Canara Bank’s Kilpauk branch in Chennai.

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