Advocate loses Rs 3L in bank fraud
Former president of the Sirsa Bar Association, Advocate Ganesh Sethi, has alleged a fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 3 lakh from his account through a manipulated cheque. Adding to the concern, no transaction alert was received from the bank. Based on his complaint, the city police station has filed a case of fraud against employees of Punjab National Bank (PNB) and IDBI Bank.
Sethi claimed that the fraud occurred due to the collusion of bank staff. He stated in his complaint that his account was with PNB. On December 6, he deposited a Rs 3 lakh cheque from Sonu Sharma’s account into his own. He provided complete details of both accounts on the back of the cheque. At the same time, he deposited another Rs 3 lakh cheque from his wife's account, which cleared successfully. However, the funds from Sonu Sharma's cheque did not reflect in his account.
On December 10, on inquiring with the bank, he was told that the cheque would be found soon. Later, an employee, Ram Avatar, called him, stating the cheque was missing and requested a replacement. Sethi obtained another cheque from Sonu Sharma and re-deposited it the same day. On December 12, Sonu Sharma received information that the second cheque was rejected. It was then discovered that the funds from the first cheque were fraudulently withdrawn. Strangely, no transaction alerts were sent to Sonu Sharma for either cheque.
Sethi has accused PNB and IDBI Bank employees of orchestrating the fraud and demanded the preservation of CCTV footage as evidence. The police are investigating the case.
