A major financial services company has taken legal action against over a dozen of its own staff in Noida following the discovery of a sophisticated embezzlement scheme. The alleged fraud resulted in a staggering loss of nearly Rs 7.5 crore for the firm.
Audit Uncovers Multi-Crore Scam in Sector 51 Branch
The case revolves around the Hoshiarpur village branch of Manappuram Finance, a Kerala-headquartered non-banking financial company (NBFC). According to a formal complaint lodged at the Sector 49 police station by company representative Munazir Hasan, a routine audit flagged serious irregularities amounting to several crore rupees.
An immediate internal probe was launched, which peeled back the layers of a well-organized conspiracy. Investigators found that between February 2023 and August 2024, a total of 57 loans were fraudulently sanctioned. The loans were processed using a series of forged documents to bypass company safeguards.
Collusion and Fake Addresses Exposed
In his complaint, Hasan alleged that a network of branch employees, external agents, and dealers collaborated to orchestrate the scam. Loans were approved in the names of two companies and several individuals, all based on fabricated paperwork.
The fraud began to unravel when company officials conducted physical verification visits to the addresses provided by the loan applicants. To their shock, they discovered that the purported recipients did not exist at those locations. Local residents confirmed that the individuals named had never lived there, exposing the entire operation as a sham.
The total financial damage to Manappuram Finance has been quantified at Rs 7.47 crore, a sum siphoned off through these ghost loans.
FIR Registered, Police Investigation Underway
Based on the company's complaint, the Noida police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) against 14 individuals, including the branch manager identified as Shriprakash. The accused face a slate of serious charges under the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The sections invoked include BNS 318(4) for cheating, along with sections 338, 336(3), and 340(2) related to forgery. Additionally, BNS 61(2) for criminal conspiracy has been applied, indicating the planned nature of the alleged crime. Police authorities have confirmed that a detailed investigation is now in progress to uncover the full extent of the fraud and bring all involved to justice.
This incident highlights the vulnerabilities within financial systems to internal collusion and underscores the critical importance of robust audit and verification processes in the lending industry.
