NEW DELHI: There has not been any let-up in cases of bank fraud despite measures and a crackdown by the government. While the fraud involving fugitive billionaire diamond trader Nirav Modi drew national outrage, thousands more over the last few years managed to dodge the attention of the investigating agencies.
A recent RBI data shows that over Rs 1.10 lakh crore is not accounted for in the light of bank frauds, which have gone up over the last three-and-a-half years. While the number of such frauds has gone up from 4,693 to 5,917 between 2015-16 and 2017-’18, 2017-’18 has seen a significant spurt in such cases, with 3,416 complaints registered in the first six months of this year.
According to the RBI data, the total number of frauds (involving an amount more than Rs 1 lakh) each year, has gone up by around 20 per cent. It says the number of such cases went up from 4,693 to 5,076 between 2015-’16 and 2016-’17.
The amount also went up from Rs 18,699 crore to Rs 23,934 crore. In 2017-18, a similar trend was seen, with the number of such cases shooting up to 5,917 and the amount also spiralling to Rs 4,1168 crore.
In the first six months of this year, 3,416 bank fraud cases have been registered and the money involved is a staggering Rs 30,420 crore.
In the Nirav Modi case, junior bank officials allegedly issued unauthorized “letters of undertaking” (LoU) for firms linked to two jewellers. The scam went undetected as these transactions were not linked to the Core Banking Solution.
The government issued “Framework for timely detection, reporting, investigation, relating to large value bank frauds” to Public Sector Banks (PSBs).
As per the guidelines, all accounts exceeding Rs 50 crore, if classified as Non-Performing Assets, should be examined by banks from the angle of possible fraud, and a report should be placed before the bank’s Committee for Review of NPAs on the findings of the investigation.