New Delhi/Aizawl, March 25 – The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said it has provisionally attached movable and immovable assets worth Rs 21.65 crore belonging to several car dealers and individuals in connection with a fake vehicle loan fraud involving Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited (MMFSL).
The action was carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), the central probe agency said on Wednesday.
The ED, Aizawl Sub-Zonal Office, provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth approximately Rs 21.65 crore belonging to various car dealers and other individuals under the PMLA in connection with a fake vehicle loan fraud perpetrated at the Aizawl Branch of MMFSL.
The ED initiated its investigation based on two FIRs registered by the Mizoram Police on complaints filed by officials of MMFSL, an official statement said.
It said that the predicate offences include criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, and fabrication of documents under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Investigation revealed that Jakir Habibur Hussain, then Area Business Manager of MMFSL, Aizawl Branch, in active connivance with four car dealers of Aizawl and other co-accused, orchestrated a large-scale fraud by sanctioning and processing fake vehicle loans from 2019 to 2024.
Fake customer profiles were created using fabricated government documents, including Voter IDs, Aadhaar cards, and income certificates.
Loan amounts were disbursed to the car dealers' accounts against delivery orders raised on the MMFSL portal; however, no vehicles were actually sold or delivered, the statement said.
To conceal and launder the proceeds of crime, the accused created two fictitious entities, “Mahindra Finance Limited” and “Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services”, and opened fraudulent bank accounts in their names with Mizoram Rural Bank.
Car dealers transferred substantial portions of the fraud proceeds to these fake accounts. Funds were further withdrawn in cash and recycled to pay EMIs on the fictitious loans, creating an appearance of genuine loan servicing.
In the first Provisional Attachment Order on March 7, 2025, the ED had provisionally attached movable properties valued at approximately Rs 9.89 crore, including two vehicles (Kia Seltos and Hyundai Alcazar).
The attachment was confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority (PMLA), New Delhi, under an order dated August 19, 2025.
The present Provisional Attachment Order covers 12 immovable properties worth approximately Rs 19.68 crore and six bank accounts/fixed deposits worth approximately Rs 1.96 crore, totalling approximately Rs 21.65 crore.
The attached immovable properties are spread across Aizawl, Mizoram, and Tezpur, Nagaon, and Silchar, Assam.
Investigation established a sophisticated pattern of layering through mule bank accounts opened in the names of low-level MMFSL employees, including office boys and sweepers, who, acting on the instructions of Jakir Hussain, received credits from the fake Mahindra accounts and withdrew cash, which was handed over to him.
The money trail further revealed the deliberate undervaluation of registered sale deeds and the acquisition of properties in benami names to conceal Jakir Hussain's true beneficial ownership.
With this attachment, the cumulative value of properties provisionally attached in this case now exceeds Rs 31 crore.
The investigation is underway.