Farmers duped of Rs 14.59 lakh in loan fraud; Navi Mumbai credit society staff booked

Thane, Oct 7 (PTI) Police have registered a case against the chairman and staff of a co-operative credit society for allegedly cheating a group of farmers of Rs 14.59 lakh by promising them a loan for a joint land purchase in Navi Mumbai, officials said on Tuesday.

A group of 14 farmers had jointly purchased a plot of land at Nevali in Navi Mumbai for Rs 3.46 crore. To complete the payment for the land, they had approached the cooperative credit society for a loan.

The credit society chairman assured the farmers of a Rs 6 crore loan (for payment and plot development). But, he allegedly demanded Rs 24 lakh as processing fees and other charges and collected Rs 23 lakh from the farmers, an official from CBD police station said.

The farmers' representative was shown screenshots of loan approval letters, demand drafts and related documents, but the promised loan was not disbursed, he said.

In the meantime, other staff members of the credit society also demanded money on various pretexts and allegedly took Rs 4.09 lakh from them, the official said.

On being confronted, the credit society chairman returned Rs 12.5 lakh but failed to refund the remaining amount, he said, adding the alleged fraud took place between August and October 2024.

The farmers' representative lodged a police complaint, based on which a case was registered on Sunday against the credit society chairman and three other staffers on charges of cheating, the official said.

"No arrests have been made so far. A probe into the alleged financial fraud is in progress," the official added. PTI COR GK