UP Police arrest four women for using fake death certificates to evade loan payments

The Uttar Pradesh police have arrested four women in Gorakhpur for allegedly submitting forged death certificates of their husbands to a bank in an attempt to evade loan repayments. The fraudulent activity was uncovered following a complaint from the bank, leading to an investigation that revealed the husbands were alive. The arrested women have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including charges of cheating and forgery.

The women had taken loans under a group-lending scheme run by Bharat Financial Inclusion Limited, a subsidiary of IndusInd Bank. This scheme provides financial assistance to women in rural and semi-urban areas for self-employment and income generation. According to the loan policy, if a beneficiary’s husband passes away, the remaining loan amount is waived, and any previously paid installments are reimbursed as a death payout.

To exploit this provision, the women submitted fake death certificates, claiming their husbands had passed away. By doing so, they sought to benefit from the waiver and avoid further repayments. However, during the verification process, the bank suspected irregularities and reported the matter to the police. Investigators then confirmed that the husbands were alive, exposing the fraudulent scheme.

Authorities have also launched a wider probe to verify the authenticity of other death certificates submitted under similar claims. The police suspect that the arrested women may not be the only ones involved in such fraud and are investigating the possible involvement of intermediaries who may have helped forge the documents. The bank is cooperating with law enforcement to strengthen fraud detection measures and prevent similar cases in the future.

According to Devesh Kumar Sharma, the police station in charge, the fake death certificates were deliberately submitted to claim benefits under the policy. He further stated that officials are now tracking the origin of these forged documents to determine whether a larger fraud network is involved.

The four accused women have been sent to judicial custody, and further legal proceedings are underway. Meanwhile, authorities have urged financial institutions to implement stricter verification processes for claims related to death benefits to prevent such fraudulent practices in the future.