An FIR was filed on Friday against Afsana and her son Aman Hussain, along with State Bank of India (SBI) loan officer Sakshi Singh and her husband Shivam Agrawal, for allegedly defrauding SBI’s Baheri branch of Rs 2.25 crore, police said. The complaint, lodged by SBI chief manager Julie Singh following an internal probe, accuses the quartet of creating a fictitious firm, Electronic Plaza, to secure the loan through forged documents.

Baheri SHO Sanjay Singh Tomar said Afsana and Aman, residents near Madina Masjid, falsely claimed Electronic Plaza had a dealership with Value Plus for trading electronic goods. With Sakshi Singh’s alleged complicity, the loan was approved on March 29, 2024, without collateral or a guarantor. Investigations revealed Rs 1.26 crore was transferred on April 3, 2024, and over Rs 1 crore on October 15, 2024, to Vishal Communication, a firm run by Shivam Agrawal at Baroda UP Gramin Bank, New Model Colony.

Value Plus confirmed via email that no dealership was granted to Electronic Plaza. The probe further uncovered that Afsana and Aman were employees of Vishal Communication, and the firm’s documents were fabricated. The FIR, filed under IPC sections for cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy, marks the third bank fraud case in Uttar Pradesh in 2025, following a Rs 750 crore scam involving Gangotri Enterprises and a Rs 200 crore fraud linked to Bharat Papers Ltd.

Also Read: PM Modi Honors Flag Designer Pingali Venkayya, Urges Nationwide ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ Push

SHO Tomar said the police are investigating, with raids ongoing to apprehend the accused, who face charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The case highlights persistent vulnerabilities in banking systems, with India reporting Rs 5.3 lakh crore in bank frauds from 2013-23, per RBI data. Authorities are probing whether similar tactics were used in other regional scams, and SBI has suspended Sakshi Singh pending further inquiry.

Also Read: Assam’s Massive Eviction Drive Sparks Outrage: 1,500 Families Face Displacement in Golaghat