Four booked in J&K Bank fraud worth Rs 5 crore

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police has filed a charge sheet in court against four accused for allegedly cheating the Jammu and Kashmir Bank of Rs 5 crore by obtaining loans fraudulently.
The accused are Salim Yusuf Bhatti, a resident of Narwal, Mendhar; Mohammad Altaf, a resident of Ari Mendhar; his wife Rukhsana Tabassum; and Zahida Parveen, a resident of Ari Mendhar.
Of the four accused, Salim Yusuf was the mastermind. He allegedly reactivated dormant accounts in the name of the Government Scheme Integrated Water Management Committee at the Lasana Surankote branch of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank. He then used these accounts to obtain loans worth Rs 5 crore from various Jammu and Kashmir Bank branches in Poonch district in collusion with the other three accused.
The complaint was lodged by the chief manager of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, alleging that Salim Yusuf Bhatti, who was a contractual employee of the Integrated Watershed Management Programme Department in Poonch, had colluded with others to reactivate dormant accounts of the Watershed Management Committee in the bank. These accounts were at the Lasana, Surankot branch of the JK Bank.
The accused then allegedly prepared fake salary certificates and other documents and obtained crores of rupees in personal loans, car loan loans, etc., by posing as government employees. The fraud was carried out by the accused by opening a fake account at the J&K Bank’s Mendhar branch.
The accused first deposited money in the Watershed Committee’s accounts through various banks and directed the banks to release the salaries of the said employees based on fake documents. They then got loans worth Rs 5 crore issued from various branches of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank by forging their own salary certificates.
Acting on the complaint, the Crime Branch initiated an investigation and after finding the allegations to be true, the Crime Branch registered a case against all four accused under sections of cheating and conspiracy.