State owned IDBI bank on Tuesday disclosed fraudulent loans worth Rs. 772 crore were issued from five of its branches in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It is reported that some of these loans were issued during the years 2009-2013 for fish farming businesses against allegedly fake lease documents of non-existent fish ponds and by inflating value of collateral. The company has said that they have found major lapses in the processing and disbursement of loans by two of its officials, one of whom has retired and other is dismissed.
The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) has registered cases for two of the five complaints and the company has initiated quality assurance audit which is expected to be complete by April.
Earlier reports said that the defaulting borrowers had allegedly offered valuable gifts and commissions to bank officers and bank panel valuers in an attempt to influence them. Preliminary probe has revealed that about 200 borrowers, in collusion with bank officers at various branches of IDBI, obtained pisciculture loans and other credit facilities through 220 loan accounts in the bank. The bank officers involved are understood to have accepted huge commissions from borrowers for sanctioning loans without checking land documents properly.
IDBI shares fell as much as 3.5 per cent to 73.6 rupees, while the index for public sector lenders Nifty PSU Bank index dropped as much as 1.8 per cent.
