Cops on lookout for 3 more accused, blame bank’s agents for not verifying credentialsThe Andheri police have arrested five persons for fraudulently procuring HDFC Bank credit cards and duping the bank for over Rs 12 lakh. The accused were nabbed on December 19, following a complaint filed by the bank’s Andheri branch. As per the police, the bank’s fraud investigations department lodged the complaint on December 15 about the huge loss they suffered after issuing credit cards to employees of an advertising company based at Crystal Plaza on New Link Road in Andheri. “The bank officials alleged that the 11 credit cards issued to the company had run expenses of Rs 12, 60,300 and the customers had failed to repay during the time of recovery. They also informed us that when recovery officials visited the company at the given address, the office premises were locked with no clue about its employees’ whereabouts,” said Senior Police Inspector Pradeep Suryavanshi from the Andheri police station. The police then registered a case of fraud. “On December 19, we received a tip off that some persons were running an advertising firm with the same name at a place called Rimzin Estate near Evershine Mall. Suspecting a link, our officers visited the office and questioned its employees there. After interrogation, it became clear that the five men present in the office were the same who had availed of credit cards from the bank by using fake documents. We arrested them and produced in court where they were remanded to police custody till December 27,” said Suryavanshi. The arrested accused have been identified as Mohammad Jafar (28), Wasim Khan (32), Jayesh Shah (38), Daniel Fernandez (21) and Haji Kalandar (22). Meanwhile, the police are on the look out for three other persons who were involved in the racket.When asked how the accused managed to avail 11 credit cards, Suryavanshi said, “These accused had got the credit cards through agencies that sell credit card on behalf of the banks. As these agencies have to meet monthly targets of selling a particular number of cards, it is quite probable that the agencies did not bother to verify the applicants’ credentials. We have also recovered several documents from office premises of the accused. Hopefully, they would lead us to more clues about their modus operandi.”
