The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a case against A Murugan, Rathanakar Shetty, and several others. They are accused of defrauding the State Bank of India. The alleged scam involves a housing loan of Rs 5.5 crore.

CHENNAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) booked a borrower, builder, and valuers for colluding with bank staffers and cheating the State Bank of India to the tune of Rs 7.30 crore after availing of a housing term loan.The accused were identified as A Murugan of Madipakkam, a businessman; promoter Rishikaran Projects and its Managing Director Rathanakar Shetty; the then Medavakkam SBI Branch Manager TK Balaji; housing loan counsellor K Balasubramanyan; valuers KVS Balasubramanya and C Ethiraj.In 2018, Murugan availed of a Rs 5.5 crore housing term loan and an insurance scheme for Rs 30 lakh for a 3,743 sq ft house promoted by Shrikaran Projects in KR Puram, Bengaluru. Since the house was under construction, the bank did not create an equitable mortgage for the loan, but the loan account was declared a non-performing asset in 2021.An internal inquiry by SBI revealed that Murugan submitted forged income credentials and income returns, and the Medavakkam Branch Manager Balaji intentionally forwarded the same to the RACPC branch without following the due procedure. The inquiry also found that the value of the property was inflated by the promoter with the help of the two valuers.Further investigation revealed the collusion of the accused at all levels, as Murugan paid just Rs 1 crore to the builder and another Rs 2.7 lakh to the housing loan counsellor Balasubramanian. Balasubramanian, in turn, paid Rs 1.3 lakh to the Medavakkam SBI Branch Manager Balaji. The SBI RACPC branch in Tambaram also did not follow the due procedure in sanctioning the loan and relied on erroneous post-sanction inspections.After lodging a complaint with the CBI, SBI moved the Madras High Court seeking directions for the agency to probe the matter. CBI registered a case of cheating, criminal conspiracy, and corruption against all known suspects following the High Court’s directions and against unknown persons, including other bank staffers. Further investigation is ongoing.