Kuwait bank alleges Rs 700 crore loan default by several Kerala nurses, FIRs registered

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A prominent Kuwait-based bank has lodged complaints in various police stations in Kerala alleging that over 1,400 people from the state, mostly nurses, had defaulted on substantial loans they had availed while working in the gulf nation, totalling about Rs 700 crore.

As the majority of the defaulters had returned to their home state or migrated to many other foreign countries after that, the Gulf Bank KSCP (Kuwait Shareholding Company Public) recently lodged complaints with the Kerala police, following which 10 FIRs have been registered in the state.

Of this, eight cases were registered in Ernakulam rural, one in Ernakulam city, and one in neighbouring Kottayam based on the complaint of Mohammed Abdul Vassey Kamran, the Deputy General Manager of the bank, police sources said.

Most of the cases were registered in different police stations last month under various sections of the IPC, including 406 and 420, 120-B, 34 and so on, they said.

Advocate Thomas J Anakkallunkal, who provides legal assistance to the bank in the state, called it "mass cheating" and said each defaulter had availed loans between Rs 75 lakhs and one crore from the institution.

The bank was defrauded of around Rs 700 crore by over 1,400 people, he said quoting figures.

"The majority of them had availed loans during the Covid-19 period. The defaulters, the majority of them nurses, worked in various government hospitals in Kuwait, and they could borrow loans by producing their salary certificates," he told PTI.

Detailing the alleged modus operandi of the defaulters, he said initially, they would take small loans and repay them without any default and thus gain the trust of the bank authorities.

Later, they would take large loans, ranging from Rs 75 lakh and one crore rupees each, and would repay the instalments twice or thrice without fail.

"They would then leave the country under the pretext of going to their home state on leave and would not never come back to Kuwait or repay the rest of the installment," Anakkallunkal explained.

Over 1,400 people from Kerala had availed loans and defaulted on them in this particular bank alone, he claimed.

The Kuwait bank authorities have taken up the matter with the Indian Home Department which considers the issue very seriously.

"As their passport details and home addresses were with the bank, it was not difficult for us to trace the accused in the state and lodged the complaint," he said.

Not just the Gulf Bank, Kuwait but more such institutions in the Middle East might have been cheated in the same manner, and they would also file similar complaints, he added.

The lawyer also rejected the claims of some of the defaulters that they failed to make the payment after losing jobs due to the circumstances following the outbreak of Covid-19.

According to police sources, the investigation is going on, and some of the defaulters have expressed readiness to repay the amount.