JAGATSINGHPUR: An amount of Rs 46.12 lakh was fraudulently transferred from the account of assistant director, Handicrafts, from Bank of Baroda here through a fake cheque and signature recently. The incident came to the fore after the officer questioned the bank about the unauthorised withdrawal of funds from his account.
According to sources, on June 17, 2022, BoB Jagatsinghpur branch received a cheque bearing account no 35xxxxx19 in the name of the assistant director for withdrawal of Rs 46,12, 900. The cheque was submitted with request form for an RTGS transaction.
Accordingly, the amount was remitted in the name of the beneficiary Ruma Telecom bearing account number 23xxxxxxxxxxx40 of Indian Overseas Bank.The chequebook issuance to the official was done on April 12, 2022 as per the records of the branch.
However, the BoB officials maintained that they followed the usual process of confirming clearance through the registered mobile number of the official. They also maintained that the signature matched with the sample and cheque went through the ultra-violet machine for genuineness.
On Tuesday, when bank officials informed the assistant director about the remittance, the official feigned ignorance about sending any cheque by the same number for clearance or letter for RTGS transfer of money.
On Wednesday, manager of BoB Prasant Rout lodged an FIR with Jagatsinghpur police alleging fraud. He also requested to unearth the racket behind such unholy deals and prayed to recover this amount from the miscreants with interest and cost of legal expenses.
Investigation Officer -cum-SI of Jagatsinghpur police station Rajendra Bhol said, “we have registered a case under Sections 419, 420, 468 and 476 of IPC and investigation is underway.”