BARBIL: Over Rs 2.5 crore has been fraudulently transferred from the bank account of Barbil municipality through RTGS by forging the signature of its executive officer (EO). The incident came to light on Tuesday after authorities of Bank of Baroda, Barbil branch informed the municipality office about the fraud. An FIR has been lodged with Barbil police in this regard.
Sources in the municipality office said a cheque was issued in favour of a civil contractor which he used in the bank. Subsequently, four cheques bearing the same series of numbers were presented in the bank containing forged seal and signature of the EO. An amount of Rs 2.55 crore was transferred through RTGS on four different dates to some other accounts in banks outside Odisha.
However, bank officials said cheques bearing the same series of numbers cannot be used to withdraw or transfer money as it will be detected in the computer system. It is likely that a cheque book of the municipality might have got misplaced and someone used it to commit the fraud.
The fraud was detected when a cheque bearing the original signature and seal of the EO was presented in the bank for some transaction. The bank authorities informed the municipality office about mismatch of EO’s signature on the previous and original cheques. On verification of bank records, the forgery was noticed.
Barbil IIC Susanta Dash said police with the Economic Offences Wing, Bhubaneswar are investigating the matter. Without divulging any details, he said some bank accounts in Kolkata and Mumbai are under the scanner of investigating agencies.
The name of the contractor in whose favour the cheque was issued has been kept secret. No arrest has been made so far. Contacted, EO of Barbil municipality Abhisek Panda refused to comment on the matter as it is under investigation.