Mumbai: 7 held for withdrawing Rs 1.6 cr from South Africa-based bizman’s account

Cops suspect an insider hand. Representation Pic

The south cyber cell unit of the Mumbai Crime Branch has apprehended seven people for purportedly withdrawing R1.63 crore from the account of a businessman from Delhi who works in Botswana, South Africa, using a counterfeit cheque.

The businessman promptly reported this fraudulent transaction to the Botswana branch of the Bank of Baroda, which informed the branch in Fort, south Mumbai. A formal complaint was subsequently filed with the cyber police.

The cyber cell was astounded to discover that the culprits not only forged the signature on the cloned cheque but also managed to obtain details of the businessman's account balance. "What's even more startling is that the withdrawal limit on the businessman's account was originally just R50 lakh, but the perpetrators somehow altered it to Rs 2 crore. Consequently, we are now suspecting the involvement of an insider in this case," said an officer.

Additionally, police have uncovered the existence of a Centralised Positive Pay System (CPPS) in accordance with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines. This requires customers to provide advance notification about cheques issued to beneficiaries. This way, the bank can process high-value cheques via the Cheque Truncation System (CTS) without the need for re-confirmation phone calls from the base branch. In this particular case, the accused initially submitted a CPPS form by forging the businessman's signature, leading the bank to skip the verification process.

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Cyber cell sources said subsequent to the complaint lodged by the Bank of Baroda on August 24, the cyber cell team obtained information about the bank where the fraudulent cheque was initially deposited. It was revealed that the cheque had been deposited at Unjjivan Small Finances Bank in Bhiwandi. Officials then instructed the bank personnel to reach out to the individual involved, subsequently summoning him to the bank and once the suspect arrived at the bank, he was apprehended.

The accused disclosed the involvement of the person who supplied him with the cloned businessman's cheque. As of now, a total of seven suspects have been apprehended.

The south cyber cell team, under the leadership of PI Devraj Borse and PSI Prakash Gawli, has also uncovered the possible involvement of an eighth person, suspected to be the mastermind. "We are investigating all aspects of the case, and there is an additional person involved. All the accused are shifting blame among themselves," stated Borse.

Officers have determined that the initially arrested suspect from Bhiwandi had submitted a CPPS application to the Bank of Baroda's Fort branch. Officials have also uncovered that this gang operates across the country. They manage to acquire cloned cheques of their targets and subsequently forge their signatures and deposit them in banks.