Mumbai: How did Punjab National Bank sanction a Rs 3 cr housing loan in 2 hours?

The flat for which home loan was taken is in Badrinath CHS Ltd in Seven Bungalows Andheri PicsDatta KumbharTheres no end to Punjab National Banks PNBs deception Even as probes by the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI and the Enforcement Directorate ED into the Rs 11400crore Nirav Modi scam are underway Mumbai Police has initiated an inquiry against the banks Santacruz branch which allegedly sanctioned a housing loan of R3 crore on the same day it received the application in two hours It allegedly gave an overdraft of R1 crore to the same individual without verifying documents or conducting any background checkThe flat in Badrinath society in Andheri WestAccording to the police the incident submission of documents in the bank and the sanctioning of the loan happened on June 7 2017 for a flat in Badrinath CHS Ltd in Seven Bungalows Andheri West which is valued at over R15 crore This is the same building in which Bollywood star Anushka Sharma too occupies three flats on the 20th floorSplit wide openThe illegality came to light on January 9 this year after PNBs circle office Mumbai Suburbs BKC wrote to Badrinath society seeking confirmation of an NOC issued on its letterhead and signed by its secretary for the sale of the mortgaged flat The society denied having issued any such NOC saying both the letterhead and the secretarys signature were forged It added that there was no such sale happening and lodged a complaint with the Versova police on January 15The Versova police have initiated an inquiry and sent notices to the concerned parties including PNB We have received complaints from both the society and the flat owner We are in the process of recording statements of all parties We will discuss the matter with our superiors and take appropriate action law said an officerEven as flat owner Sakharam Naik 60 an NRI running a garment manufacturing company in Bangladesh too has lodged a complaint with the Versova police alleging forceful attempt to take over his property by using forged papers the man who had availed the loan from PNB Hardik Gothi has filed a suit against Sakharam and his wife Rita 54 claiming possession of their flat The matter will come up before the Bombay High Court on February 26The caseThe whole murky business started with Sakharam needing R3 crore urgently to keep his business afloat and failing to get the funds in Bangladesh He got in touch with property brokers in Mumbai who had got him his Andheri flat seeking reference of private financersA broker connected him to Rajesh Dahanukar chairman and MD of a credit society in Andheri Dahanukar assured Sakharam of getting the funds for him in a few days The two started communicating and Dahanukar emailed Sakharam a draft MoU between the two of them Accordingly Sakharam came to Mumbai on June 5 2017As per the draft MoU Dahanukar would loan R3 crore to Sakharam at a monthly interest rate of 2 per cent R6 lakhmonth which Sakharam would have to pay in advance every quarter Rs 18 lakh As collateral security I was asked to enter into an Agreement for Sale which as per the MoU would be terminated on receipt of the entire loan amount with interest within the stipulated time period Sakharam told middayAdvocate Dinesh Tiwari who is representing Sakharam in the case said On June 7 when he went to the subregistrar office in Andheri to sign the documents he saw that the agreement for sale mentioned Hardik Gothi instead of Dahanukar When he asked Dahanukar about it he was told that Gothi was his associate and because the agreement for sale was just a formality he didnt need to worryA few days after he received the money he found out that it had come from PNBs Santacruz branch According to Tiwari Out of the Rs 3 crore that was promised to my client it was he who paid Rs 28 lakh towards stamp duty and registration Rs 15 lakh 5 per cent of Rs 3 crore service charge Rs 1 lakh processing charge and first quarter interest of R18 lakh with only the balance being deposited into his account which he immediately paid to his creditors The advocate has questioned why would Sakharam do all this if he were selling the flatThe twistEverything was for two months On September 9 2017 Gothi visited the flat and told my client that he had come to take physical possession of it as instructed by Dahanukar said Tiwari Sakharam said I was shocked I phoned Dahanukar who said it was a misunderstanding and asked to speak to Gothi After their chat he left the houseSakharam added that even as he continued to pay the quarterly interest to Dahanukar Gothi and his family members kept trying to take over his property During a meeting between Sakharam and Gothi on December 18 2017 the former claimed that he found out about the loan that had been taken from PNB for his flat based on the agreement for sale and also realised that the society papers and his signatures had been forgedTiwari said My client had agreed to sign the agreement as he was told it would only be used as a surety It appears the entire system in PNB is so corrupt that officers at all levels are freely indulging in unethical practices including manipulation of documents The lightning speed at which the loan was sanctioned without following due procedure clearly hints at kickbacks to the concerned bank officials who didnt bother to verify the authenticity of the documents submitted eitherThe other sideWhile attempts made to contact Gothi did not yield any result his lawyer advocate Chirag Sancheti in a letter dated January 10 2018 a copy of which is with midday addressed to Sakharams previous laywer Ranjit Singh has denied all allegations levelled against his clientThe letter states Receipt of Rs 3 crore by your client Sakharam is towards the sale consideration of flat 18021902 in Badrinath Tower it is crystal clear that there is a sale of the said flat by your client and my client made the payment under the agreement for sale It is unlikely any person would enter into agreement for sale for just a loan Also my client Gothi is into the construction business and is not involved in any moneylending activitiesExperts aghastVimal Punamiya chartered accountantThis is a classic case of misuse of power an ordinary citizen is harassed with all sorts of conditions and asked to submit many documents before his loan is cleared And in other cases the same bank overlooks all norms works in connivance with middlemen and a few bank officials going out of their way to provide financial assistance This only exposes the rotten banking system and the level of corruption withinVinod Sampat advocateThere have been ample instances of bank frauds because of nexus between bank staff and touts which adversely affects the banks reputation It is high time the government fixed accountability strictlyCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and 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