In the last week of March, a 35-year-old finance manager working at a multinational IT solutions firm in Pune received a notice from a private sector bank regarding defaulting on EMIs for a loan he had not taken. Initially, he thought it might be cyber fraud, but he soon received several calls from bank executives and realised that a personal loan of Rs 18 lakh had been fraudulently taken out in his name.
This was not an isolated incident. Around the same time, two more similar cases were reported with the same bank, with stolen identities being used to procure personal loans of Rs 18 lakh and Rs 15 lakh. While the bank launched an internal probe and a revamp of its procedures, it also approached the cybercrime police station of the Pimpri Chinchwad police.
The probe uncovered an elaborate web of identity thefts orchestrated by a fraudster who allegedly exploited gaps in the verification system and employed an alarming modus operandi to steal as many as 23 identities over two years to procure loans.
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After the cybercrime police station received the initial information, they launched an investigation into various technical leads available. The probe soon revealed that one single person was behind the three reported cases of identity theft for loans. A coordinated probe was launched under the supervision of DCP Sandeep Doiphode, ACP Vishal Hire and Senior Inspector Ravikiran Nale.
Two teams, led by Assistant Inspector Praveen Swami and Sub Inspector Prakash Katkade, started digging for more technical and ground-level leads. After gathering concrete leads, the police zeroed in on a suspect and laid a trap to arrest him.
In the first week of this month, the suspect was called to a location on the pretext of verifying documents for a loan that he had applied for using a stolen identity. The suspect was detained, and after an initial series of evasive and fake answers, he finally revealed his identity.
Yuvraj Bharat Tiwade, 45, a resident of Pimple Saudagar, who worked as a loan agent in the past, was placed under arrest. In addition to the three identities he had stolen to procure loans, the police recovered documents of 20 other fake identities he had created. Some of his applications for personal loans using these identities were rejected, while others were still pending.
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” He used to visit various internet cafes. On the computers, he used to find images of Aadhaar, PAN, and other identity documents that other users had downloaded for printing. These downloaded images of identity documents were then used to create forged identities and addresses, purchase phone numbers and then apply for loans. Because the accused was aware of the lacunae in the verification of documents, he tactfully misused them to evade scrutiny,” said an officer who was part of the probe.
The officer added, “He had been using these personal loan funds for living a lavish lifestyle, purchasing jewellery and luxury items. The modus operandi has a key takeaway for people that they have to be very careful while downloading their documents on internet cafes or printing shop computers and promptly delete them after use.”
Tiwade, who has been charged with multiple counts of cheating, impersonation and forgery, is currently in judicial custody.