IDBI Bank discloses Rs772 crore fraud, shares fall 3.5%

IDBI Bank Ltd said on Tuesday that fraudulent loans of Rs772 crore ($118.8 million) were issued from five of its branches in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, sending its shares lower on Wednesday.

Some of the loans, which were issued during fiscal years 2009-2013 for fish farming businesses, were obtained against fake lease documents of non-existent fish ponds and by inflating the value of collateral, the company said.

The company found major lapses in processing and disbursing the loans by two of its officials. The lender dismissed one of the officials, while the other official had already retired, it said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has registered cases for two of the five complaints, relating to branches at Basheerbagh and Guntur, the company said.

The bank said earlier on Tuesday it initiated a quality assurance audit, expected to be completed by April.

At 11.50am, IDBI shares were trading 1.90% at Rs74.80 on BSE, while the Sensex was down 0.41% at 33,038.07 points. Shares fell as much as 3.5% to Rs73.6 in early trades.