A 55-year-old widow from East Delhi has alleged that her tenant fraudulently used her identity and property documents to secure loans worth around Rs 18 crore, prompting the Delhi Police to investigate a case of alleged cheating, forgery and criminal breach of trust.
The complainant, identified as Usha Rani Sethi, a resident of Vivek Vihar, alleged that the fraud was carried out after she rented out two commercial flats in central Delhi to a businessman named Sachin and his associate Sanjay in June 2012, who wanted to shift urgently.
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The accused had reportedly taken the properties on rent for a combined monthly rent of Rs 64,000. Usha told the police, quoted by Indian Express, “I had rented out the flat on the second floor to Sachin for around Rs 47,000 and the smaller one on the third floor to Sanjay for Rs 17,000. The rent deeds were registered at the Sub-Registrar's office. After some time, both of them left.”
According to the complaint, the tenants allegedly misused the registered rent agreements, which contained details of her property and personal information, to create fraudulent documents. Police alleged that loans, mortgages and overdraft facilities amounting to nearly Rs 18 crore were later obtained in the name of Jagdamba Metals and other entities using forged documents and her credentials without her knowledge.
The alleged fraud came to light in April 2013 when Supreme Court advocates informed Sethi that a loan of Rs 70 lakh had been taken against her flats from Punjab and Sind Bank and had remained unpaid. She then approached the authorities, leading to a probe into the financial transactions and property records.
Investigators found that the accused allegedly obtained a PAN card belonging to another woman from Odisha who shared the same name as the complainant. The suspects allegedly used an imposter carrying a forged PAN card with a photograph to appear before the Sub-Registrar's office and complete property-related formalities, as per the Indian Express report.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police later reopened the investigation and examined the financial trail. During the probe, Sanjeev Dixit, Sachin's brother-in-law, emerged as a key accused. Police alleged that Dixit, who operated under multiple aliases, had links to several previous fraud-related cases.
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