In a breakthrough, Bihar’s Economic Offences Unit (EOU) on Tuesday arrested Syed Shahnawaz Wazi, the prime accused in a Rs 100 crore cooperative bank fraud, from Patna Junction.
Alongside Wazi, his two associates, Rajnikant and Shaukat Ali, were also arrested.
The arrests came after three years of intensive digital surveillance and tracking by EOU teams.
Acting on a tip-off, EOU ADG Nayyar Hasnain Khan deployed a special team that intercepted Wazi as he arrived from Dhanbad by train.
Despite wearing a fake ID and a disguise, Wazi was caught before he could flee.
Wazi faces three major cases: Rs 16 crore embezzlement from Awami Cooperative Bank, Patna, Rs 84 crore fraud at the Regional Cooperative Bank, Vaishali and money laundering and banking rule violations on the complaint of the RBI.
The frauds, carried out between 2012 and 2024, involved taking signatures from farmers and small investors on fake loan schemes and luring investors with promises of high returns on bogus LIC policies.
The scam, executed with the help of insiders in cooperative banks, has impacted thousands of investors and farmers across Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh.
Wazi was on the most-wanted list of the ED and CBI.
A warrant was issued in 2022, but he evaded arrest, frequently moving along the Bengal-Nepal border while continuing to operate using hawala networks and fake identities.
His arrest became possible due to a detailed analysis of his digital footprints and financial transactions.
Hundreds of investor and farmer victims have cases pending in courts, hoping for justice.
One victim shared: “He took Rs 5 lakh from me, promising triple returns through LIC. Later, I discovered the policy was fake, leaving our family in financial crisis.”
This arrest is seen as a significant step in cracking down on cooperative bank fraud in Bihar, with EOU officials stating that further arrests and property attachment under money laundering charges are likely in the coming weeks.
