CCB Arrests Anna Nagar Couple and Finance Manager in ₹21-Crore Loan Fraud

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) has arrested an Anna Nagar couple along with a private housing finance firm's branch manager for allegedly committing a ₹21-crore mortgage fraud. The accused had allegedly retrieved original property documents through fraudulent means and pledged them with another lender.

The arrested persons have been identified as Devendran, 51, and his wife Sasikala, 43, both residing in Anna Nagar, and R.G. Harinath Karthik, 51, a resident of Perungudi. Karthik was working as the manager at the Anna Nagar branch of Repco Home Finance Limited.

According to police investigators, Sasikala and Devendran had obtained two mortgage loans totalling ₹3 crore from Repco Home Finance in 2016. To secure these loans, the couple had deposited the original title deeds and documents belonging to eight different properties as collateral with the company.

Police said that while an amount of ₹2.26 crore was still outstanding against the loans, Karthik allegedly colluded with the couple. He reportedly issued a fake receipt stating that the entire loan had been cleared and repaid in full. Based on this fabricated receipt, the mortgage on the eight properties was formally cancelled.

After the mortgage cancellation, the couple retrieved the original property documents from Repco Home Finance. They then took the same original property deeds and pledged them with another private bank to secure a fresh loan of ₹21 crore.

The irregularity was uncovered when top officers of the housing finance company conducted an internal audit and detected the discrepancy. Following the audit findings, M. Vijayakumar, legal assistant manager of Repco Home Finance, lodged a complaint regarding the fraud with the Chennai Police Commissioner on July 8.

Upon receiving the complaint, the CCB registered a case and took up the investigation, which led to the arrest of the couple and the branch manager. According to the police, Devendran and Sasikala are also involved in two other cheating cases involving a total amount of ₹9.19 crore.