Pune man’s Aadhaar, PAN data misused for loan fraud

PUNE: A 36-year-old Wadgaon Sheri resident was in utter shock after receiving a loan default notice from a bank, which he had never availed. What baffled him all the more was that somebody used his PAN and Aadhaar cards’ details to secure the loan.
The man, a private firm employee, lodged a complaint in this regard with the Chandannagar police on Wednesday.

“He has stated in the complaint that he never visited the private bank’s Kalyaninagar branch, let alone opening an account and then securing a loan from it.Somebody used the photocopies of his ID proofs, including PAN and Aadhaar cards, to open a savings account with the bank. The person/s later used this savings account to secure personal loans worth Rs 5.10 lakh from the bank and a finance company,” inspector PK Pasalkar of the Chandannagar police told TOI.
The fraudster/s availed the loan in March this year. “The fraud came to light when the bank and the finance firm did not receive any equated monthly instalment (EMI) payment from April,” the police said.
“Prima facie it is suspected that the officials of the private bank did not follow the KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures thoroughly before opening the savings account,” inspector Pasalkar said.
He said the documents with the bank were the photocopies of original PAN and Aadhaar cards of the victim. “It is still not known from where the suspect/s obtained the photocopies of these crucial documents,” the officer said.
“The bank authorities decided to conduct an in-house investigation which revealed that the bank had been conned into opening the savings account and securing loan subsequently,” Pasalkar said.