Click to play videoGoa: At the recovery yard of ICICI bank in Goa, there are several cars which have been repossessed by the bank and kept here until they are resold.
CNN-IBN goes undercover to ICICI bank's loan department in Panjim to find out how this entire process of reselling actually begins.
CNN-IBN: Whom can I contact?
Shripad (Agency employee): I'll give you the broker's number. Rouf: 9822179202.
Rouf has an agency near Margao. So how does he get the cars from ICICI ?
Rouf (used car agent): We buy a full lot. Four-five of us jointly buy it.
CNN-IBN: So you can manage the auction?
Rouf: Yes. So after we get the vehicles we re-sell it from here.
The car auction is rigged, and so much so, that even before the auction you can choose the car you want and Rouf will deliver.
CNN-IBN: Basically if I like a particular car you can get it?
Rouf: Yes, that I can arrange. But with transfer sometimes the problem arises.
CNN-IBN: Like what?
Rouf: The customer gives a letter to the RTO not to transfer the car. So then we transfer the car in the bank's name but it takes two months.
Under normal circumstances, we found that some ICICI bank employees are involved in this racket of auctioning cars without even the bank legally repossessing them.
All of that is possible because men like Rouf have got the RTO in his pocket.
Rouf: To the RTO we give Rs 5000 or something and they just do it.
And if the owner approaches the RTO and declares the car disputed, then they just forge signatures. That's just what the gang did in Jowett's case but were careless.
Rouf left his name and number on this letter forged by him posing as Jowett for the loss of an RC book, the first lead that led us to straight to him.
In fact, in a subsequent statement to the police, the bank clearly admits that in Jowett's case, Shaikh Rouf was indeed the highest bidder.
And that's not all. In confessions made to the police, Rauf and his buddies Kadar Shah and Flyod Coutinho admit that they had indeed forged signatures confirmed by a forensic report from the Hyderabad lab.
But is ICICI aware of all of this? Or do these men operate only with black money?
CNN-IBN: Can one can give white amount also?
Rouf: White amount or black amount, anything.
CNN-IBN: One can give full white also?
Rouf: You can make the Demand Draft directly in the name of ICICI bank. We have no problems.
And what has the police been doing about this racket?
"Now it is up to the RTO to look into all these aspects. When they do the transfer of these vehicles, they have to decide,” says Shekhar Prabhudessai, SP, South Goa,
But the police hasn't just been turning a blind eye, it’s own officers are also involved in running the yards.
Documents in the possession of CNN-IBN clearly show that ICICI bank had been using Inspector Colaco's services as a custodian of it's repossessed cars.
The entire operation was run in the name of Mrs Colaco, a fictitious character. It is an allegation denied by Colaco, who is now with the CID at the Dabolim airport and is also a bachelor.
"Never. I have never worked for ICICI nor have I ever assisted them in any activities and I do not know anyone from ICICI,” says Edwin Colaco, Inspector, Goa Police.
But that's not what villagers at Manora Raiaya tell us.
“The yard was run by ICICI bank. There was a deal between them. They used to get a cut for each car kept here,” says Cedric, a village resident.
And who are "they" related to?
CNN-IBN: How are Adeline and Inspector Colaco related?
Xavier (village resident): He is her nephew.
The yard belongs to Inspector Colaco's cousin and the fact that Colaco himself was working for ICICI bank is confirmed by everyone in the loop.
CNN-IBN: Colaco ran it?
Adeline Colaco (Inspector Colaso's aunt): Yes, Edwin Colaco got the cars here.
CNN-IBN: I was wondering whether it's possible to get a car?
Kemps Colaco (Inspector Colaco's brother): He's not in that business any more. He used to do it earlier.
CNN-IBN: I was told that someone called Colaco was running the business earlier?
Shripad (Agency employee): Yes, he's stopped.
CNN-IBN: Why?
Shripad: He stopped God knows why.
Even the South Goa SP, Shekhar Prabhudessai, who is also Colaco's former boss, knows about it.
“There were some issues with regard to the yard owned by that PSI Colaco. It was given to ICICI bank on a rented basis,” he says.
But has any action been taken against Colaco?
“His involvement was not proven,” says Prabhudessai.
The reason is simple. Hear it from a man who was earlier part of the system.
"The police would cover it up because they were part of the operation. They used to get their cut which was 10 per cent,” says Johnny D'cruz (name changed), a former ICICI recovery agent.
Clearly Inspector Colaco is just been one of the cogs in the system but what is certain is that men in uniform are clearly involved in this illegal operation.
In a written response, ICICI’s Executive Director V Vaidyanathan has said:
- ICICI collection employees do not deal with goons
- The complains are a tiny fractions of the collections and are exceptions
- Collection Agencies keeps bad debts low and lending rates low for good borrowers
- Outsourcing has its risks but is the only way to reach the masses
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
More on IBNLive Right Now
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
