Bank staff steal Rs 14 lakh from accounts over 6 years

Investigating a case of Rs 14-lakh fraud at the Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank,Shimla,the police have discovered a new yet simple modus operandi adopted by the accused to execute the crime. The two accused employees of the bank reactivated a dormant savings account and used it for transferring money from various other accounts of customers over a period of nearly six years.

The fraud came to light last week and after registering an FIR,the Shimla Sadar police found out during investigation that the accused — junior clerk Sanchit Acharya and computer operator Vijay Kumar — issued themselves forged ATM cards on the savings account of one Kamal Chand and withdraw Rs 14 lakh from various other accounts over the last six years. After transferring money from one account to the other,using the bank network,they also made valid entries of money transfer in all accounts accessed by them. They were caught when the bank manager recently did a re-audit and overhauling of the computer management system of the bank,after the accused had made an illegal transaction of Rs 6 lakh in one go.

During interrogation,the accused tried to defend themselves,giving reasons of adverse family conditions,such as father’s treatment for cancer and sister’s wedding. “The accused claim to have used the money for father’s treatment and sister’s marriage,but it seems partially true,as a major amount withdrawn illegally by them have made way into the stock markets through share trading,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police (City) Vijay Verma.

While this incident has raised a question mark over the security of people’s deposits in the Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank,Managing Director Amit Kashyap has argued that the incident came to light due to constant monitoring and upgrading of security software by the bank. “Money of the customers is absolutely secure and safe and a detailed inquiry is being done to find out the role of other employees,” he said.