Sleuths of the Economic Offences Branch of CBI, Chennai, have booked a landlord, a builder, two bank valuers, two buyers, and unknown others for cheating the State Bank of India (SBI) of 5.5 crore by availing two housing loans for the same property. As per the FIR, S Vakisan and S Deivanai, siblings from Puducherry, approached the SBI branch in Iyyapanthangal in 2020 for a housing loan of 5 crore to buy a villa on a plot measuring 4,520 sq ft and a super built-up area of 5,500 sq ft at Tiruporur on ECR. Bank-empanelled valuers M Vijayakum ar and M S Senthil then submitted reports saying the property was worth 6.3 crore, following which a housing loan of 4.26 crore was sanctioned. Vakisan and Deivanai paid the monthly instalments regularly until April 2021 and then sought relaxation, citing the Covid-19 pandemic. Accordingly, the repayment period was extended until July 2023. SBI branches revealed that the villa the siblings had purchased from D Santhosh, a builder and realtor, was not new but built in 2016 and that the bank had already disbursed a housing loan to Santosh. The audit also revealed that the plan approval for the layout was received in 2011, although the plot was regularised only in 2019. The actual value of the property was found to be 3.5 crore, much less than the loan disbursed. The bank suspected the role of the landowner, Vummidi Kritsh, and lodged a complaint with the CBI to prosecute them. Later, the bank moved the Madras high court, and the court recently directed the CBI to register a case against the suspects for further investigation.
 

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