KOCHI: The Palarivattom police on Friday booked a Filipino who allegedly swindled Rs 3.27 lakh from the bank account of an NRI who hails from Kochi. The Judicial First Class Magistrate Court had ordered the police to register a case after the South Indian Bank (SIB) sought a detailed probe into the 2018 incident.
The police said Ellen Sanoria, a native of the Philippines, was booked for allegedly impersonating the NRI and sending an email to SIB for transferring funds from the victim’s account in SIB’s Ernakulam NRI Branch. “NRIs can transfer money from their account after completing a set of procedures even if they do not visit the branch directly. The accused used this method to divert the money,” said a police officer.
The incident took place in June 2018. The SIB received an email from the victim’s ID requesting to transfer $4,700 (Rs 3.27 lakh) from his account. The bank replied that a form had to be filled to complete the procedure. A few days later, the filled-in form bearing the victim’s signature was sent via email. The bank officials also received an international phone call insisting on transferring the money. After a persistent request, the bank transferred the money to the account provided by the Filipino.
The officer said the fraudster had hacked the victim’s email account to send the communication to the bank. The NRI’s signature was also forged and used in the form, said the officer, adding that the fraud came to light after the victim approached the bank and informed them that an unauthorised transaction had taken place. “It is a complex case as the money was transferred to a foreign account and the accused also seems to be based abroad,” said the officer. Ellen has been charged with cheating, forgery, forgery for cheating and using forged documents as genuine.