Surat: The city police’s economic offences wing has arrested four bank officers and a mobile sim card distributor in a Rs 5.75 crore land cheating case involving bogus bank accounts opened in the names of land owners, who were in Canada at the time.Police said the accused opened fake accounts in Yes Bank and IDBI Bank to divert money paid for a land deal. The arrests were made as part of an investigation into alleged cheating and forgery linked to a land transaction in Kathor village.Additional commissioner of police (crime) Karanraj Vaghela told TOI, “The prime accused, a land broker named Ravi Koladiya, had assured the complainant, Piyush Saspara, that he was empowered to sell a land parcel in Kathor village owned by Salim Ibrahim Sidat, Faridabibi and Khatija Vora.“To win his confidence, Koladiya said the money would have to be paid into the bank accounts of the landowners. A deal was finalized and Koladiya then drew up an agreement to sell to Saspara.”Vaghela said Koladiya allegedly used fake identity documents to open bank accounts in the names of the landowners at the Ankleshwar branch of Yes Bank and the Ghod Dod Road branch of IDBI Bank, which he controlled.Police have arrested Sandip Piludariya, Azad Pathan and Shivani Patel, employees of the Yes Bank branch in Ankleshwar, for allegedly helping Koladiya open three accounts.Investigators said Rs 4.81 crore from the purported land sale was credited into these accounts. Koladiya allegedly withdrew Rs 2.8 crore from the Yes Bank accounts and also took Rs 94 lakh in cash from Saspara.While he passed on some money to the landowners, police said the entire amount was not handed over.Koladiya is also accused of opening two more bogus accounts at an IDBI Bank branch with the help of the fourth arrested banker, Yagnik Vaghasiya, and transferring Rs 2.95 crore into those accounts.Despite the payments, no sale deed was executed in favour of Saspara and Koladiya subsequently went missing, police said.As the bank accounts required linked mobile numbers, Koladiya allegedly obtained sim cards from Vodafone-Idea distributor Sanjay Dhandhukiya, who has also been arrested in the case.
