MODUS OPERANDI OF SCAMMERS

Firstly they advertise in the newspapers. While doing so these scammers use the names of prominent and reknowned companies. Simultaneously, within days people start contacting them about the loan procedure and the required formalities. In the process the companies ask the enquirers to deposit login fees and submit the relevant documents. After receiving the login fees and the valid documents they send sanction letters assuring the clients that their loan has been passed.  Simultaneously, from among the applicants the crooks start searching for ‘a scape goat’. Scape goats are basically people who are not very aware of the rules and regulations and it is even better if they have a sound financial background. These people are appointed as agents (for the sake of using their contacts, their premesis). In case they do not find any willing agents they simply work from youth centers, hotels and other places who offer their space on some minimal fees.

Once all is set and done, their representatives come down to the city and start meeting their clients either from the local agent’s office or from the rented place. The new clients happily deposit the minimal login fees ranging from Rs1000/- to Rs 4000. Meanwhile the clients who have already paid and have been contacted are interviewed. Some among the clients are taken for a ride as their property is inspected. They are given assurance on the passing of the loan. However the company representatives very smartly happen to ask for favours for themselves in cash as they shall be the ones favouring their case for the loans. This I would like to term as ‘social fees’ as this is actually how the society works today. Money for work, money for love nothing else matters. The unaware applicant happily pays the money ranging from thousands in many cases to lakhs of rupees in some.  And with all the accumalated wealth in a months or few weeks time these crooks leave the city happily, never to be heard of again. Very intelligent of these men who in a way have exploited the corrupt practises of the society. However they may be intelligent but the henious crime of shattering someone’s dream, putting people and their families in enternal debt and tarnishing the image of hardworking people is something for which they should be made accountable with a sentence as harsh as possible.

While investigating this story what I found was that the lack of proper knowledge and unwillingness to take expert advise was one of the main reasons for this scam. Moreover what I believe is that 90% of the people who have been cheated have spoken their side of the story  very softly and only to their dear ones. The plot, so well executed by the scammers is as such that the basic weakness of the society has been exploited. The greed of some has caused a remarkable difference in many lives where the dreams of some have been shattered and their future is very uncertain while some move on as the amount is too meager for them to react or they are just too shy to tell the world how they were duped.

Place-Inside Shillong

Many many people have been cheated. Very few have come up. At least more then ten fraudulent companies were in operation since July 2008. And some are still in operation. Just from one premesis of one Mr  John F. Rymbai, more than 200 people were cheated. When I first met him, I was apprehensive. But when  I came to know his story where he has lost nearly 15 lakhs and had to sell his ancestral property to avoid being termed a fraud, I was impressed with the work he had done to find out the truth. This gentleman kept on pushing for answers and through his hardwork the police got a very important lead on the matter.  A businessman in his very young age he defintely did a superb job of find his own way.
Interview: Frankie J Rymbai
EP: When did you first come in contact with these finance organisations?

F.J.R:  Actually when I had seen some advertisement in local English daily and vernacular press. I got interested beacuse they offered interest rate of 4-7%. As a businessman I could make some profit at the offered interest rate and the procedure was very simple. I contacted them and deposited the login charges and sent the relevant documents. After a week a surveyor from the company arrived and inspected my office and asked for a survey fee of Rs25000 and some money for ‘chai pani’ (metaphor for bribe) along with the promise to send more representatives. On 5th December 2008, Anil Sharma, claiming to be an Assistant Manager of Suvidha Associates sent one gentleman whose name is Sudesh Kr. Sinda. He is from Bharati Financial Corperation(BFC), Faridabad and claimed that he was from Bharati group. He asked for a working space at my office and promised to disburse a loan of Rs 50 crore in Meghalaya by December and January. In the process I took my time for 2-3 days and asked him for all the relevant documents. Corresponding to that they fax me RBI documents, form F and in the process I asked him for his personal id. He gave me his driving license.

EP: What did you do after being cheated?

F.J.R: After being cheated I investigated about the license but I found it to be fake and tried to locate their offices. I went to Faridabad, Patna and Delhi. This seems to be a well planned scam. According to me ten to fifteen companies are involved in it from last November till March-April this year. Many people  have been cheated.

EP: After you had allocated space for them in your office what was their mode of operation?

F.J.R: They made money reciept. Sudesh Kumar stayed at Hotel Prakash, Laitumukrah, Shillong from 5th-15th December. Then he requested me to arrange a paying guest house. I requested him to stay with me. He said that according to the company policy he could not stay with the client. In the process I arranged a paying guest house. These people were very clever. I made an agreement with him for a portion of my office and he made money reciepts and he gave advertisement in local dailes for employement. People came for work and he appointed a few. He said more unemployed youth will be employeed by his company. So I was happy. Sudesh was involved in my office for one month. My staff and his staff were involved in collecting the login fees of Rs 1500 for him. The money collected in the day was taken by Sudesh in the evening and deposited in the account of one Mr Suresh Sharma claiming to be the manager of BFC. At the same time he said this money is refundable if the loan is rejected. In January this money of 200 to 300 people has to be refunded by me. I could give this money back after I sold my land given to me by my parents.

EP:  You have approached the authorities in this regard?

F.J.R: Yes, automatically I approached Laitumukrah Police Station. One officer advised me to run to Faridabad and search for this BFC. I found the company did not exist. Suvidha exists but was already closed at that time. I wanted to meet the house owner but I could not. I kept searching for the address given in Form F. I tried to meet the SP but in vain. Then I arranged for a lawyer who prepared my FIR and I filed it at the SP office, Sector 12, Faridabad, Harayana. One Mr. Iswar Singh dealt with my case. He took my personal interview and I gave my statement. He assured me to look into the case. When I pressurised him to look into the account number of Suresh Sharma he sent one constable along. After repeated requests the bank manager from ICICI bank finally showed  me his address. The police refused to go saying that ‘ agaar tum wahain jayega to wahin bhi nahi hoga’. (If you go there they will not be there). They also informed me that people from Maharastra had also come in search of these banks. I think they do this scam continously in different parts of India.Many people have not come forward from Jowai so many people have been cheated.

EP: You said you have visited Patna? Kindly elaborate.

F.J.R: 3- 4 months back I had gone to Patna to find out about the company Lord Buddha. This company appointed an agent in Jowai Shein Lamare. When I went to Bihar I found only a small rented room. I even went to the office premises of Plutus Management in Gaziabad. It was a small office. We didn’t expect anything illegal. We are simple people. These people are very cunning, well planned and they will try to do this again in the future. We should be very alert about this and this is like mental harrasment to me and many others who have been cheated.

EP: Some people are apprehensive of your role in this fiasco?

F.J.R: As for the people who have gone for these loans through my office, I have to pay them back. But what will happen to those people who have dealt with them directly from Jowai and different parts of the state. Nobody will be paying back their money. I am loosing a lot of money but people who deal from my office are not going to loose. It may not be easy to catch these people but I will stop this crime in the future.

EP: Have any victims come to you?

F.J.R: Yes many victims have come to me i.e.  from Jowai. They explained to me that they have been cheated and they ask for help. I tell them that I cannot catch these people but the only thing  we do is create awareness.

EP: Do you or any other victims have photo ids of the company representatives?

F.J.R: I don’t think so. See these people are so clever.  I had relaised that I had taken their photo once in my office through my mobile. But that same day my mobile had dissapered. On 24th December my  staff asked Sudesh ‘ chalo chalo photo lega’ (come lets take a photo) but he said that he never took photo. He never allowed anyone to take his photo.These people are very afraid and alert of the camera.

EP: What have the authorities in Shillong done?

F.J.R: I have filed a statement, FIR in SP Office Shillong and in Laitumukrah. They are doing their work as some CID have approached me.

EP: You said something earlier about people from Maharastra being cheated?

F.J.R: Yes the Faridabad police informed me that people from Maharastra had come searching for one of these companies namely BFC. They too stated that had been cheated on the pretext of loan. After one month one police man from Faridabad said that the person had committed suicide. But I don’t know his name.

EP:  Have you informed the clients that they have been cheated?

F.J.R:. Yes, I have informed all of them that we have been cheated.

Interview of Auxilus Syiem

After hearing from Frankie I met A. Syiem a person whose thought process seemed simple.His belief in relations is evident but his belief in the system has been shaken.

EP: How did you come in contact with the loan agency?

A.S: I called them after seeing their advertisement.

EP: What did they ask you to do?

A.S: They asked me to come to Don Bosco. Then  they told me the requirement and asked me to furnish the IT returns. But I told them that we are exempted from IT so we don't maintain that. Then they said that was all right but I needed to provide my S.T certificate and other documents like my bank statement, my pan card etc.

EP: Did they see your property?

A.S: No They said they are going to disburse their personal loan and the letter asked for 0.5% of the loan amount which they said will be paid to AXA Bharati the branch. So Bharati will act as a guarantor.

EP: When did you realise that you had been cheated?

A.S: Later when they said that they will disburse the loan on 5th of January but did not show up.

EP: How much did you pay them?

A.S: When they came to verify the loan after taking my interview they told me that I have a very good aim and since I am an exporter, they could give me double the loan. They said that a maximum limit for personal loan is Rs 10 lakhs but they could get me double.  They told me to give them something or their expenditure. A sort of bribe.I paid them Rs.15000 and login fees of Rs 1500.

EP: Did you go to the authorities or complain to anyone? Did you take an expert’s advise or anybody's help?

A.S: After that I browsed through the internet and found that the particular person Sudesh  kumar had cheated. They had taken Rs 40000/- and were not traceble. I went to John.

EP: Did you do the loan directly?

A.S: No I did it from John's office. He directed me so I was glad because John is a known person to me. So I trusted the scheme as John was confident that the loan would be released.

EP:  After losing money to the fraud, did you demand the money from John as the transaction was made through his office?

A.S: I didn't ask for the money. I tried my level best to help him. At first when they failed to turn up I suspected John to be involved. But later I realised  John was also cheated when he showed me the fake documents provided by BFC.

EP: The company that you dealt with?

A.S: I dealt with Suvidhaa Associates who said that they were agents of Bharati Finace Co-orperation. Then I came to know from so many people that they were disbursing loans and that the office was in John's premesis. I became more confident.

EP: Why did not you take professional help?

A.S: Actually I had never been cheated earlier. So I did not expect that these people would be cheating me. I contacted Family Co-operation who also asked me to submit the documents but I did not do so. I also contacted Plutus Management who also sent all the forms and requirements to my address by post.

EP: Did you pay them?

Ans. No after Bharati I did not pay anyone. After discussing with them I could not trust them.

In Jowai

K. J. sumer

Mr Sumer had applied for a personal loan to renovate his home. He had lost Rs 50000 while dealing with BFC. He is still managing to rennovate his house but he might never apply for a loan again.

EP: From which company did you apply for your loan?

K.J.S: I applied for my loan from Bharti Financial Corporation when I saw the advertisement in the newspapers.

EP: Tell us something, how do you start applying for the loan?

K.J.S: They said they have prepared all the papers, and after that I had to deposit  Rs.50000 and I could get a loan of Rs 1crore. I had paid the money without receipt because I trusted John, since he had told us that the surveyor had  come to Shillong.

After reciving  the money a sanction would be sent within a month and by all means within 10 days we would get the money. I have been waiting for the money since the month of December, till now I have not got the money.

EP: Did you get the sanction letter?

K.J.S: Yes I got the sanction letter. We gave the money because we want the loan and now we want to meet the people and ask them why were we being cheated.

EP: Do you know that in Jowai hundreds of people were cheated?

K.J.S: No, I did not know about that.

EP: Are you going to apply for loan again?

No, we are still waiting for that loan but there was another company from Bihar who approached us. But if this is what happens, I doubt that I will apply for a loan again.

EP: How do you feel after being cheated?

K.J.S:  I feel angry and I want my money back. I want to meet them and  I want to ask them why. If I don’t get my money back there will be a rift between John and me.