The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has registered nine first information reports (FIRs) against 10 people accused in the loans against fixed deposits scam.
The accused, who are part of a syndicate, opened overdraft (loan) accounts in the names of existing fixed deposit holders and siphoned off ₹237.58 crore from various bank branches across the city, said the Deputy Commissioner of Police (EOW).
The Central Bureau of Investigation is already probing a similar scam in the country’s financial capital, wherein FDs aggregating ₹436 crore were misappropriated from Dena Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce.
The senior police official, who did not want to be named, said the fraud was committed on the branches of Dena Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Punjab National Bank, Vijaya Bank, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, Bank of India, UCO Bank, and Central Bank of India.
The entities from whose FD accounts funds were siphoned away include: Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (FD: ₹45.23 crore), PG Group of Companies (₹141.80 crore), Dr Tryambak Kulkarni (₹4 crore), Sant Rohidas Charmodyog & Charmakar Vikas Mahamandal (₹8.10 crore), and South Indian Education Society Trust (₹38.25 crore).
The DCP said that of the 10 accused, four — Mohammed Fasih (Showman Group), Anil Pawar, Avinash Khandale, and Roy Joseph — have been arrested. However, not a single bank official has been arrested so far.
Modus operandi Explaining the modus operandi of the overdraft-against-FD scam, a senior public sector bank official said some of the accused would approach cash-rich entities asking them to place FDs with bank branches. Since the accused acted on behalf of the entities, they had access to all the KYC (Know-Your-Customer) documents, including resolutions passed by trusts for placing deposits, and signatures on application forms required for the opening of FDs.
Believing the accused to be representatives of the customers, the bank officials would hand over the FD receipts to them.
The accused would retain the original receipts and give the customers phoney FD receipts.
The possession of the original FD receipts and access to KYC documents made it easy for the accused to perpetrate the fraud, the banker said.
The Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police and the CBI are working together to investigate the case.
Meanwhile, the banks hit by the scam may be required to make a provision in their books for the July-September quarter, which will affect their profits.