Driver deceives 11 people under guise of govt loan scheme

The police arrested a 53-year-old driver on March 10, 2019, for deceiving 11 people from different Dzongkhags. The suspect was initially arrested from Bumthang and was escorted to Thimphu police station on March 11.

The suspect is from Mongar. The complaint was lodged on March 4 by the victims to Thimphu police station.

In one incident, on March 2 around 5 PM, a 39-year-old driver gave a lift to the 53-year-old suspect from Sarpang check-post and they were traveling towards Thimphu from Sarpang. The suspect said he will get down at Wangdue and introduced himself with a fake name.

During their conversation, the suspect told the driver (victim) that the present ruling government has approved and authorized him to gather 20 people and as part of a kidu program, the government will provide vehicle loans to all the 20 people.

He also claimed that they have to fill up forms and pay Nu 50 and accordingly the government will process the loans as per the type of vehicle they would want to buy.

In addition, he also told the victim that the government will provide loan up to Nu 2.8 mn in which they will have to pay Nu 40,000 monthly. The suspect told the victims that he already gathered 18 people and they were approved by the government and hereby need only two people.

Therefore, he registered two people (the victim and his wife) to avail the loan. The suspect collected Nu 4,500 from all the victims saying that the amount is to cover up his personal expenditure. The victims were asked to get him a copy of identity card each.

Similarly, the suspect deceived 9 other people using the same strategy from different Dzongkhags. He has collected a total amount of Nu 49, 000 from them. All the 11 victims were asked to come to Thimphu on March 4 for a meeting in SAARC building.

They (victims) all gathered in Thimphu on the said date but when the suspect’s mobile was switched off, they then approached police to lodge the complaint. Accordingly, the police arrested the suspect.

Police said that since the incident took place in different Dzongkhags, they have forwarded the case to the respective police stations. They only have registered one case which took place in Thimphu.

Police said that he will be charged under deceptive practice.