Rs 22 lakh siphoned off from DMF account using cloned cheques in Odisha
SAMBALPUR: A fraudster has allegedly swindled around Rs 22 lakh from the bank account of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) Trust, Sambalpur by presenting cloned cheques. The matter came to light after the bank officials lodged a complaint in this regard with the police.
As per the complaint lodged by the chief manager of the Bank of India (BOI), Sambalpur branch, The District Mineral Foundation (DMF) of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) maintains its savings account at the branch. On November 4, the bank received five cheques reportedly cloned, for clearing a sum of Rs 22, 92,300. The cheques were to be credited to the account of one Chandi Das in different banks including Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Central Bank of India and Indian Bank.
Though the officials of the branch tried to contact the concerned account holder over the telephone, they couldn’t reach them. However, since it is a government account and the DMF is a valued customer of the branch, the branch officials chose not to dishonour the cheques and passed them.
However, the next day, on November 6, three more cheques were presented for clearing to the same payee Chandi Das. Subsequently, the branch officials suspected it to be a fraud and rejected the cheques. On November 7, the branch officials also visited the office of the DMF to verify if the cheques were issued by the office. Shockingly, the account holder confirmed that no cheques had been issued in the name of Chandi Das and cheques with the same number were still in their possession.
The authorities of the branch verified a scanned copy of the cheque and found it to be cloned. Thereafter, the payer bank contacted all the concerned banks and their own clearing house to stop any pending or future payments to clearing from the DMF account. Eventually, they also moved the police and registered a complaint.
Contacted, the sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Sambalpur, P.K. Sahu said, a case has been registered in connection with the incident on November 9. “We have launched an investigation to identify the fraudster and ascertain the other persons involved in the fraud,” he added.