Mint Explainer: How Mahindra Finance unearthed a ₹150 cr employee-dealer fraud

livemint.com:

has detected fraud at one of its branches in the northeast. The fraud involved retail vehicle loans and included forgery of know-your-customer (KYC) documents, leading to the embezzlement of huge funds. According to the lender, the financial impact of the fraud was estimated at up to ₹150 crore.

Following a complaint, the Mizoram police have made several arrests, uncovering details of the fraud. Mint takes a look at how a clutch of employees, car dealers and others came together to perpetrate this crime. Ankit Bagree, circle head, Mahindra Finance, registered a first information report (FIR) at Aizawl police station on 20 March, alleging financial fraud by a 41-year-old area business manager in Mizoram Jakir Hussain, as per a press release by Mizoram Police on 26 April.

Then on 29 March, another case was registered at the Crime and Economic Offence police station based on a complaint by Chanpreet Singh, business head of Mahindra Finance. According to Mizoram Police, Hussain, and some employees of the company’s branch were part of this. The police said that Hussain and other associates, opened a fake bank account in 2020 under the name of “Mahindra Finance Ltd" at the Khatla Branch of Mizoram Rural Bank (MRB).

He, and two other individuals “impersonated the country business head and submitted forged documents". According to the police, this account was used to keep the money defrauded for over three years. The police also found that Hussain prepared fake documents and said they were senior officials of the company and opened the bank account.