He was swindling banks frequently for over eight years, but the police could catch up with the veteran conman only now. The Yeshwanthpur police arrested the 59-year-old swindler, Krishna Parameshwar Bhat, a resident of AECS Layout in Marathalli. But by then, he had taken loans of Rs 2.77 crore from various banks by furnishing colour photocopies of property documents as surety.
The con business was all in the family, and the police are now on the lookout for his wife Asha Bhat. The police also suspect the involvement of at least 10 more people in the racket. Bhat cheated Syndicate Bank, State Bank of Mysore, Canara Bank, Federal Bank and other banks. The police said bank employees too could be involved, as it is impossible to get loans without their connivance. Officials who processed the loan applications and cleared the loans are part of the con game, they added.
Bhat cheated Syndicate Bank in 2007, but bank officials have filed a complaint only this year. Digging into the files and recovering documents from Bhat, the police have found that the racket was going on since 2004. But he had not been arrested as bank officials were loath to register complaints. Bank officials claim that they reported the matter to the Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) to recover the debts from him. But it is highly difficult as the banks have only colour photocopies of the property documents and not the originals.
Before hitting the con street, Bhat was a genuine businessman who had the dealership of Swastik Company to sell homemade products. As he faced financial difficulties, one of his friends advised him to take a loan against his house in Vijaynagar. He got the first loan, and tried his luck with another bank by producing photocopies, and succeeded. As his idea seemed to work, he went on a borrowing spree, said the Yeshwanthapur police.
He was arrested in ACES Layout in Marathalli, but his wife managed to escape. “We are also on the lookout for their associate Sundar Bhat, against whom there is a similar case in the JP Nagar police station,” the police said. The couple has taken Rs 18 lakh from the Syndicate Bank branch in Yeshwanthapura, Rs 24 lakh from the State Bank of Mysore branch in Malleswaram, Rs 15 lakhs from the Canara Bank branch in Bagalur, Rs 15 lakhs from the Federal Bank branch in Marathalli and other banks. He has also taken money from a few people saying that he was selling his house.