The Delhi Police is investigating a case of financial fraud in which Rs10 lakh worth of funds were fraudulently transferred through real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system of the country’s topmost public sector bank, State Bank of India (SBI), by agents of Reliance life Insurance.
The victim, a resident of lajpat Nagar, was duped by the insurance agent who apparently used ‘magic pen’ to write the details and then erased the original content and filled another amount and transferred the money. Police officials said it could not have been possible without the involvement of certain official of SBI who first provided the account details to the fraudsters and then allowed the fund transfer despite the victim lodging an alert with the bank about the fraudulent withdrawal.
A case (FIR No. 666/14) under Sections 420/467/468/471 has been registered at lajpat Nagar police station of South-East district. It alleges that 42-year-old Sangeeta Kohli, resident of lajpat Nagar, on August 28, was approached by an agent Suresh from Reliance life Insurance. He asked the victim for a cheque of Rs200 in favour of the insurance company for some charges relating to her insurance policy. Believing the agent, she issued a savings account cheque of State Bank of India (SBI) bearing number 653360 of Rs200 in favour of the company.
On September 3, to the victim’s shock and surprise, it was discovered that a fraudulent RTGS fund transfer worth Rs9,76,056 was done favouring M/s Ramavatar & Company in an account of Bank Of India, Paharganj branch bearing the same cheque number. However, it was discovered that the offender had used a delible ink to write the name of the drawer and the amount, which he later overwrote and increased the cheque amount and the bearer’s name. What is more galling is the fact that the SBI officials did not verify the signature of the account holder on the front and back portions of the cheque and also the required RTGS documents.
The State Bank of India neither cross-checked with the customer for the fund transfer nor the signature, which is mandatory for every bank as per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines. However, no documents or forms required for the RTGS transaction were ever signed by the victim and no directions issued to the bank for the fund transfer. The FIR states that signatures must have been forged by the officials of SBI India or the said agent named Suresh or any person connected with M/s Ramavatar & Company. The FIR states that SBI has committed criminal breach of trust.
An e-mail complaint was also made to SBI Chairman by the victim. SBI Chairman replied, “We will look in to the complaint and arrange for necessary action/redressal of the same at the earliest.” Meanwhile, the victim has also approached RBI ombudsman for investigation of the criminal breach of trust on the part of one of the topmost public sector bank of India. The matter is being investigated by the police.