New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) Delhi Police has busted an organised vehicle loan fraud racket with the arrest of its three key members, who allegedly cheated multiple banks to secure loans using forged identity documents and then sold the vehicles with ‘dishonest’ intent, officials said on Sunday.

Five vehicles, including a Mercedes-Benz, Maruti Brezza, Tata Altroz, Scorpio-N and Toyota Hilux, have been seized from the accused’s possession, they added.

“The accused used forged Aadhaar cards, PAN cards and income-tax returns (ITRs) to create fake identities and avail vehicle loans from various banks. After obtaining the loans, the accused deliberately defaulted on repayments, turning the accounts into non-performing assets (NPAs),” a senior police officer said.

The operation began on December 25 last year, after the Crime Branch received specific inputs about an organised racket involved in large-scale vehicle loan fraud.

“Sustained surveillance and technical analysis revealed that the vehicles were re-registered in different states to evade tracking. During the investigation, it emerged that the main accused, Aman Kumar (46), had been impersonating multiple individuals using forged identities in the names of Rahul Kapoor, Shyam Sunder and Rai Kapoor,” the officer said.

Aman opened several bank accounts using forged documents and availed vehicle loans, following which the vehicles were sold to different buyers.

A raid at his residence led to the recovery of forged documents and vehicle-related records. He was arrested on December 25, and during interrogation, he admitted to using multiple fake names and addresses for impersonation, the officer said.

In a follow-up operation, the Crime Branch arrested co-accused Dheeraj, also known as Alok and Siddharth, a resident of Najafgarh, on January 8.

Police said he acted in connivance with Aman and used forged Aadhaar and PAN cards along with fabricated ITRs to obtain vehicle loans.

Two vehicles -- a Scorpio-N and a Toyota Hilux -- were recovered from his possession.

“During questioning, Dheeraj disclosed that fake Aadhaar cards were prepared at a documentation shop in Najafgarh. Acting on this lead, police arrested Naresh Kumar, the alleged operator of the shop, on January 9,” the officer said.

“Police recovered one mobile phone, an eye scanner, a biometric scanner, a web camera and a PVC card printing machine from the shop, indicating its involvement in preparing forged identity documents,” he added. PTI BM SMV ARI

Vehicle loan fraud racket using forged Aadhaar, PAN and ITRs busted; arrests made and five cars seized. An organised vehicle loan fraud racket used forged Aadhaar cards, PAN cards and fabricated income-tax returns to create fake identities, obtain vehicle loans, default deliberately to convert accounts into non-performing assets, and re-register vehicles across states to evade tracking; five vehicles were seized and three suspects arrested, including the principal impersonator and an alleged documentation-shop operator where biometric scanners and a PVC card printer were recovered.