The Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched a major crackdown last weekend (Nov 25–26), raiding 12 residential and office locations across Pune as part of its probe into a sprawling ₹19.38-crore State Bank of India (SBI) car loan fraud. The operation targeted the residences of loan borrowers, auto dealers, and Amar Kulkarni—the then-Chief Manager at SBI’s University Road branch—amid allegations of a widespread conspiracy to defraud the nation’s largest public sector bank.
Systemic Fraud and High-End Cars
According to an ED press release issued Saturday, investigators seized a fleet of luxury vehicles, including BMWs, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, and Volvo cars, from these properties. The agency alleges that, between 2017 and 2019, Kulkarni and Aditya Sethia (then an SBI auto loan counsellor) abused their positions and conspired with select car dealers and borrowers to push through high-value car loans using forged documents.
Instead of the rigid verifications typically required for hefty loans, the accused approved applications based on bogus paperwork and inflated quotations, investigators say. Many loans were allegedly backed up by fake or doctored quotes, ballooning the margin money and green-lighting loans well beyond the actual cost of the cars.
Unmasking the Scam
The scam unraveled after third-party verification agencies denied issuing key reports attributed to them. This triggered the filing of an FIR at Shivajinagar Police Station in January 2023, with the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) Anti-Corruption Bureau, Pune, joining the effort under charges spanning the Indian Penal Code, Prevention of Corruption Act, and the PMLA.
During the raids, ED officials reportedly not only seized several luxury vehicles but also uncovered incriminating documents and identified additional immovable assets linked to the accused borrowers. The investigation paints a picture of a sophisticated fraud network—one that reached from the upper echelons of SBI’s lending apparatus to colluding car dealers and buyers keen on premium wheels. Authorities believe that bogus verification reports and use of third-party accounts were tactics to obscure the money trail, allowing the flow of illicit funds into flashy new vehicles.
The ED continues to probe the extent of the fraud, but officials stress that such actions demonstrate a renewed push against corruption in India’s banking sector. As Pune’s luxury cars are impounded, the message is clear: the days of easy, unchecked car loans—no matter how expensive the ride—are numbered.
