Microfin scams: B’gavi dist admin to roll out massive awareness drive

Belagavi: The Belagavi district administration has prepared to launch a massive awareness campaign to protect innocent people from falling prey to microfinance and self-help group loans and deposit-related scams.
The Belagavi deputy commissioner's office received the highest number of complaints, totalling 2.7 lakh, from victims of such frauds. This figure represents 34% of such frauds reported in the entire state, with a total of 7.8 lakh complaints registered statewide. Considering the surge in these frauds, the district administration has decided to raise public awareness through mainstream and social media on a large scale.
"We have already discussed this with the Lead Bank manager and the registrar of cooperative societies. They will start the campaign shortly. We have also called a meeting of the managers of the microfinance institutions. We are taking every necessary step to protect the public interest. The discussion was also held in this regard at the meeting of Karnataka Development Programmes (KDP) at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha on Friday," said DC Mohammad Roshan, speaking to the TOI.
In most cases, agents availed loans in the name of women by providing their documents and signatures to microfinance companies. These agents duped women by paying them half of the loan amount and telling them they would receive a subsidy and did not need to repay the loan. Even more surprising is that many of the women deposited half of the amount also with the same agents, lured by the promise of higher rate of interest.
"In many cases, the victim women knew they deposited money intending to get a higher interest rate, which is unusual. People should be suspicious of anyone who says they are offering a higher interest rate than the regular market rate and should stay away from them. I have also discussed with the city police commissioner to investigate the issue and highlight the modus operandi of the scammers. I also spoke to the police department to find out where the scammers invested this money. It is most likely that they invested in real estate," DC Roshan said.
District minister Satish Jarkiholi said: "For the past month, we have been searching for ways to protect the victims. A scam on such a big scale won't be possible without the involvement of microfinance institutions. An investigation is underway. We urge the victims to register official complaints at the nearest police station," he said.