Surat: In a major loan scam at the Ring Road branch of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank, the bank manager, valuer, guarantor, and other employees—along with a gang seeking to fraudulently obtain loans—allegedly cheated the bank of ₹16.38 crore. In connection with this case, the 29th accused, Ashok Kalu Kanpariya, who had been absconding for the past two and a half years, was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing of Surat Police.

Around two years ago, Prabhakar Nadar, an officer from the bank’s Ahmedabad branch, filed a complaint with the police. The complaint named R. Sundar, manager of the Ring Road branch, and others for their involvement in sanctioning fraudulent loans. Loans were allegedly approved based on forged documents, without proper site inspections or verification of business premises.

Additionally, the surveyor and valuer appointed by the bank were also complicit. They are accused of inflating the value of mortgaged properties multiple times over to facilitate these fraudulent loans. The gang collectively caused a loss of ₹16.38 crore to the bank.

So far, the Economic Offences Wing has arrested 28 individuals, including the bank manager and the property valuer. Yesterday, the 29th accused, Ashok Kalu Kanpariya, a resident of Kavita Row House, Sarthana Jakatnaka, was taken into custody.

Despite not being involved in the yarn business, Ashok allegedly took a cash credit (CC) loan of ₹1 crore in the name of Merrill Enterprises, under his wife Sheetal’s name, and an additional ₹75 lakh loan in the name of his brother, Sanjay. Both loans remain unpaid.

The police say efforts are ongoing to trace more suspects, and the investigation into this complex financial fraud has been reopened. DeshGujarat