The police in Maharashtra's Thane district have registered a case against nine individuals, including the owner of a financial consultancy firm and a bank manager, for allegedly defrauding people of a total of Rs 1.74 crore under the guise of facilitating loan approvals. The accused purportedly took large sums of money as processing fees but failed to provide the promised loans, according to a complaint lodged by one of the victims.

The case came to light following a complaint by a 40-year-old builder residing in Kamothe, Navi Mumbai. According to the builder, the accused promised to help him secure a loan of Rs 4 crore for his professional activities. As part of the process, they demanded Rs 24.41 lakh as a processing fee. Despite the payment, the loan was neither sanctioned nor refunded.