Coop bank seeks CBI probe into Rs 4.2 crore fraud
Ambika Sharma
Tribune News Service
Solan, August 19
More than a week after an embezzlement of ~ 4.02 crore was unearthed in the Nohradhar branch of HP State Cooperative Bank, the bank management today recommended CBI probe into the incident while suspending seven employees and issuing show cause notice to 10 others after initiating departmental action against them. The remaining bank staff has been transferred to other branches to ensure fair probe in the matter. A departmental probe has been ordered into the embezzlement for which information was being collected.
Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank Chairman Devendra Shyam said that such incidents are extremely worrying and unacceptable for the bank. “An assistant manager of the bank embezzled the funds by opening fake loan accounts. According to the preliminary investigation, no arrest has been made so far. An amount of around Rs 4.02 crore has been detected and detailed departmental investigation is underway. The exact amount would, however, be known after completion of the probe.”
He said that considering this matter as highly sensitive and as per the norms set by NABARD, the bank management has decided to get it investigated by the CBI and the entire case has been forwarded to them.
He assured the customers of the bank that the capital deposited by them in the bank is completely safe and they should not worry about anything.
Managing Director of the bank Shravan Manta, while echoing similar sentiments, said that since the bank employees are the backbone of the institution, committing such fraud is a heinous attack on the bank and the customers. He added that any employee found involved in this incident will not be spared.
According to the FIR, Jyoti Prakash, branch manager, misused his powers and opened Kisan Credit Cards on fake names and credited a sanctioned amount of Rs 4.02 crore in them. This money was transferred into term loan banks own deposit and cash credit limit banks own deposit accounts which were later embezzled and these accounts were closed.
He also embezzled money from the fixed deposit accounts of the account holders which, on inspection, revealed glaring irregularities. Not only had lakhs been withdrawn from several accounts but some customers were taken aback to find their accounts showing negligible balance. An FIR was registered by the bank management on August 11.
