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Twenty-two people, including employees of a finance firm, were booked for fraud, forging documents and criminal conspiracy by the Gotri police.
The complaint was lodged by the legal manager of Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company that was defrauded of Rs 7.70 crore by the accused. The cops registered an FIR on Tuesday night after the complainant approached the court some time ago.
According to the complaint, the accused include the firm's manager, freelancers and additional works contractors. All the accused hatched the conspiracy to take loans worth crores from the firm by producing bogus documents and overvaluing properties in different areas of the city.
The police said that some of the accused were directly working in the firm and were well-versed with the system of passing loans. Sixteen accused were freelancers and additional work contractors who manage the work of properties that are mortgaged.
Two other accused were valuers who used to give valuation reports of the properties.
The freelancers and additional work contractors prepared bogus documents to show that some persons wanted to mortgage their properties and take loans from the firm. The valuers then prepared fake reports of the properties that were overvalued.
The firm deposited some amount in the accounts of the builders while the rest was deposited in the accounts of 16 freelancers and additional work contractors.
When the EMIs for the loans were not deposited in the firm, the management began an investigation to find out those who had taken the loan. "It turned out that the loans were taken in the names of roadside stall owners and even footpath dwellers.
These people were not aware of any properties that were mortgaged," the police said. The firm approached Gotri police in October last year with a complaint but the cops didn't register an FIR.
The firm also wrote to the city police commissioner but when the cops didn't file FIR, they approached the court that ordered the cops to file a complaint.