Image used for representational purposes only
Image used for representational purposes only

Tailor among four arrested for credit card fraud of Rs 52.90 lakh in Odisha

The fraud came to light after the zonal headquarters office of ICICI bank in Kolkata noticed abnormal growth in non-performing assets (NPA) involving credit card transactions.
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ROURKELA: The Cyber Crime wing of Rourkela Police has unearthed a credit card fraud of around Rs 52.90 lakh from ICICI Bank with the arrest of four persons including the prime accused who is a tailor by profession.

All the arrested persons - key accused Md Tabrez Alam, a tax advocate of Uditnagar, an employee of the bank and owner of a merchant store - were produced in court on Friday under sections 318 (4), 319 (2), 338, 336 (3) and 61 (2) of BNS and 66 (C ) & (D) of IT Act. Alam has a tailoring shop in Koelnagar.

The fraud came to light after the zonal headquarter office of ICICI bank in Kolkata noticed abnormal growth in non-performing assets (NPA) involving credit card transactions. Accordingly, a complaint was lodged in the Cyber Crime and Economic Offences police station at Rourkela on January 22.

Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani said the credit card forgery was carried out over a period of time with manipulation of financial records, forged documents and unauthorised cash withdrawals. The large-scale fraud amounts to Rs 52.90 lakh and additional accrued interest.

The SP said investigation revealed that Alam lured multiple individuals into obtaining credit cards irrespective of their financial condition, while the accused tax advocate prepared Income Tax Returns (ITRs) by manipulating information and documents to secure high credit limit. Similarly, the accused employee of ICICI Bank responsible for scrutinising the eligibility criteria before issuance of credit cards, deliberately cleared the forged documents. The merchant store owner’s job was to exchange cash.

The SP said the credit cards were used for cash transactions at merchant establishments in Rourkela. The card holders under the influence of the accused persons, swiped cards at these outlets in exchange for cash which was later converted into equated monthly installments (EMIs).

Wadhwani further said Alam’s bank account showed a credit accumulation of Rs 2.7 crore from September 2023 to August 2024 with multiple deposits traced back to fraudulent transactions. The tax advocate’s bank account showed credit accumulation of Rs 8 crore during that period with deposits linked to fraudulent transactions into various benami accounts.

The POS swipe machines where the credit cards were used have been seized. Police suspect involvement of more persons in the forgery and further investigation is underway, the SP added.

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