Union Bank Of India Scrutiny: Unraveling Alleged Money Laundering Case Amid Tragic Suicide
There had been several fraudulent activities involving money transfer, according to a complaint.
Top executives, including the managing director and chief executive officer of Union Bank of India have come under scrutiny from law enforcement agencies following the report of a money laundering-related suicide case. Chandrashekar P died by suicide after naming top officials of the lenders who were allegedly involved in the scandal.
On Tuesday, A Rajashekhar, general manager of Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corp., lodged a formal complaint in Bengaluru regarding several fraudulent activities involving money transfers, according to a copy of the complaint seen by NDTV Profit.
This amount was moved into the Union Bank of India account without authorisation and adequate paperwork, the complaint copy stated.
Six Union Bank of India officials, including A Manimekhalai, managing director and chief executive officer of the bank, four executive directors, and a chief general manager of the branch were booked in connection with the suicide, according to a copy of the first information report—filed at Bengaluru's High Grounds Police Station—seen by NDTV Profit.
Upon perusal, several forged letters, cheques, and RTGS requests with fake signatures of the officers and accounts officer and a forged board resolution were identified. When the passbook was verified, Rs 94.7 crore worth of funds were found to be disbursed to various accounts by the MG Road branch of Union Bank of India, based on these forged documents.
Apart from Manimekhalai, the complaint copy also names executive directors of the bank—Nitesh Ranjan, Ramasubramanium, Sanjay Rudra, Pankaj Dwivedi and Suchishitha Raul, chief manager of the bank's MG Road branch.
Fraud Details
In February, Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corp's account was transferred to the Bengaluru's MG Road branch of Union Bank of India, according to the complaint. The managing director and accounts officer of the organisation jointly operated this account, which received several "significant" deposits worth Rs 187.3 crore from March to May.
These funds were provided by several banks and the State Huzur Treasury Khajane-II. However, as the organization purportedly awaited the bank's issuance of a passbook and a new chequebook, it actively investigated the situation.
The organisation found several letters, cheques and RTGS requests that were forged. These documents had fake signatures of the officers and accounts officer, leading to unauthorised disbursements of funds from the organisation's account with Union Bank of India.
It also mentioned that Chandrashekar P. was involved in sending out bank confirmation letters to various banks where the organisation's accounts were held. However, in the MG Road branch account, Chandrashekar did not send out letters to ascertain the monthly balance.
Remedial Action
While the organisation has filed a complaint, the case has now been transferred to CID for further investigation. In the meantime, the bank has also taken steps to address this.
"The bank is cognizant of the alleged fraudulent transactions in the accounts of the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Limited (a Government of Karnataka undertaking) that happened at our M.G. Road Branch, Bengaluru," Union Bank of India said in its official statement.
The lender has declared the transactions fraudulent and filed a formal complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation on May 30, the statement said. The lender has also suspended three branch officials pending further investigation.
