Home Ministry, Kerala Police probe Rs 700-Crore Kuwaiti bank loan scam

Kochi: The Union Home Ministry has taken serious note of a major financial fraud involving Keralites who left Kuwait after taking bank loans and failing to repay them. As part of the investigation, the ministry is now in contact with the Kerala Police, which has registered 10 FIRs in the case.

Approximately 1,425 Keralites, including 700 nurses, are alleged to have left Kuwait and settled in countries such as the UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, with outstanding loans totaling around Rs 700 crore. These loans were obtained from a prominent Kuwaiti bank, which is now facing significant losses due to the widespread defaults.

The Home Ministry has already reached out to Kerala Police for details on the cases, and plans to contact the Kuwaiti bank for a full list of loan defaulters. Officials have emphasized the gravity of the situation, as it involves the cheating of a well-known financial institution in Kuwait.

The issue came to light following a complaint from Muhammad Abdul Vassey Kamran, a senior official at Gulf Bank Kuwait. Kamran arrived in Kerala last month and met with the state police chief, leading to the registration of 10 FIRs by the Kerala Police. Investigations are now underway.

The Kuwaiti bank's frustration stems from the fact that many of the defaulters, particularly nurses who were employed by the Kuwaiti Health Department, had left the country without repaying their loans. Some of these individuals had taken loans ranging from Rs 50 lakh to over Rs 1 crore but failed to honor their repayment commitments.

A key concern is that many of the defaulters had previously established a strong repayment history with the bank, which led to the bank’s initial trust in providing them with substantial loans. Now, with the severity of the issue acknowledged by both the Kerala Police and the Union Home Ministry, stringent actions are expected to be taken against the defaulters if they fail to repay their dues.

In addition to legal measures, authorities are considering the possibility of canceling the nursing licenses of the defaulters in the healthcare sector, further intensifying the consequences for those involved in the fraud.

The case has drawn considerable attention, with authorities on both sides of the issue taking coordinated action to address the financial wrongdoing and hold the defaulters accountable.

With IANS inputs