Loan racket busted: 2 held for cheating to tune of Rs 3 crore

Chennai: Police arrested two men for cheating more than 1,000 people of over Rs 3 crore in an organised racket that promised bank loans. The police is hunting for the main accused.

According to the police, Ganesh had established SEB Microfinance two months ago in Kakkalur in Tiruvallur district and promised loans of more than Rs 3 lakh per applicant.

On Monday the company was found closed and the employees were missing. On Tuesday morning the victims staged a protest in front of the company's office.

After this, the Tiruvallur Taluk police registered a case and arrested two men identified as Siva Prakash (34) and Anthony (32), assistant managers of the company

Police said the gang used to ask applicants to pay Rs 15,000 to Rs 40,000 depending on the loan they wanted. They promised that the loan would be cleared in a week. One of the victims said, “I paid Rs 20,000 on Saturday and on Monday I came to know that the company was fake and had closed.”

Police said that people who had come to complain said the company was well-run and they found the process systematic. “Every day hundreds of people are cheated by such fake companies. The public should not trust such companies and must approach nationalised banks for a loan,” a police officer said

The Tiruvallur taluk police registered a case on charges of cheating, forgery and the search for the main suspect is on.