Losses suffered by public sector banks in frauds nearly doubled to Rs 3,780 crore in 2010-11 over the previous year,CBI Chief A P Singh said,prompting the probe agency to work on a database of bank fraudsters. Singh said today the increasing amount of frauds in the banking sector is a "disturbing factor". "Banks lost Rs 2,017 crore due to frauds in 2009-10. This has seen a quantum jump(88 per cent) in 2010-11,with the loss amount rising to Rs 3,799 crore," he told the annual conference of Chief Vigilance Officers of public sector banks and financial institutions. "While CBI's Bank Securities and Fraud Cell registered criminal cases involving Rs 4,000 crore in 2011,cases regarding frauds worth Rs 2,500 crore have already been registered from January to July this year," he said. Singh said CBI is developing a 'Bank Case Information System' (BCIS) which contains names of accused persons,borrowers and public servants in its records. "This information may also be made accessible to field functionaries of the banking sector in collaboration with the Indian Bank Association (IBA),once modalities are worked out," he said. Delivering the keynote address at the conference,the CBI chief also said the agency would now probe only those bank fraud cases where loss is more than Rs three crore while those below it would be investigated by the state police. "On the request of CBI,CVC has notified revised threshold limits for reporting bank fraud. CBI will now only register bank fraud cases involving loss of over Rs three crore. Frauds involving loss of below Rs three crore shall be reported to state police," he said. Singh pointed out that the losses incurred by public sector banks and financial institutions clearly suggest that a better system of checks and balances is required to prevent such frauds. He said existing loopholes need to be plugged,manuals updated and Standard Operating Procedures framed to ensure that lending and borrowing takes places in a healthy environment,free of fraud. The CBI Director also raised the issue of according sanction of prosecution of accused officers concerned which gets delayed resulting in subsequent delay in probe for such cheating cases.
