Patna: Raids on to trace bank account holder in fraud case

PATNA: Police were trying to trace one Nipendra Kumar Pandey, in whose name is the ICICI Bank account in which Rs11.73 crore of government money from the Kotak Mahindra Bank was to be fraudulently transferred.
The Exhibition Road branch in Patna of Kotak Mahindra Bank had funds of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) parked in the bank account operated by the district land acquisition officer for acquiring land for different government road projects.A failed attempt was made to transfer Rs11.73 crore to the Boring Road branch of ICICI Bank via RTGS on January 2.
It has lifted the lid on successful fraudulent transfer of more than Rs15 crore to different private bank accounts outside Bihar in the last two months.
Town DSP Suresh Kumar told TOI on Sunday that two more persons were identified. “They are behind making all the fraudulent transactions surfaced till date,” he said. Raids were being conducted to arrest them. “We expect Kotak Mahindra Bank authorities to submit a detailed report on Monday regarding transactions made from the government account,” Kumar said.
He said at least four persons were being interrogated in this connection.
Sources said a manager-rank employee of Kotak Mahindra Bank, who was earlier posted at its Exhibition Road branch, and a sales team employee of ICICI Bank, who had opened Nipendra’s account, were being interrogated.
Sources said Nipendra (27) had opened a current account on December 4, 2020. “This is just a month before an attempt was made to transfer Rs11.73 crore to his account. The bank account might have been opened solely for fraudulent transactions. A cheque of another bank was submitted by Nipendra as initial deposit for opening the current account. But that cheque had bounced and the account was made inactive by the bank,” the sources said.
He said Nipendra was probably used just to open the current account for fraudulent transaction of government funds as professional con men were working behind the curtain.
Another police source privy to the investigation said a senior officer of Kotak Mahindra Bank at Exhibition Road is also under scanner as his banking credentials were used in making most of the fraudulent transactions from the government account to other bank accounts. However, he said the officer was yet to be quizzed.