Bhubaneswar: Inter-state frauds stated to be from outside Odisha allegedly swindled around Rs 4.5 crore from the bank account of the Mayurbhanj District Mineral Foundation (DMF) by using cloned cheques.
The modus operandi used by the scamsters reportedly came to light during probe into siphoning off of around Rs ten crore from the DMF account of zilla parishad maintained with the Bank of India.
Preliminary investigation indicated the frauds sent a fabricated letterhead of Mayurbhanj Collector with his fake signature via courier to the bank requesting to link a mobile phone number with the account of DMF, TNIE reported.
After the bank staff linked the mobile phone number of the scamsters with the DMF account of zilla parishad, Mayurbhanj, Rs 4.5 crore was withdrawn on April 10 and transferred to bank accounts in Kolkata and Raipur, said sources.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Police, which conducting the probe, suspects the scamsters possibly came to know of the cheque numbers through statements of the bank account of DMF and deposited the cloned cheques accordingly.
A few days later, they again attempted to withdraw Rs 5.5 crore, but this time the bank manager found it suspicious and informed police of the matter.
As the money was not released after the second cheque was deposited, one of the gang members telephoned the manager of the bank impersonating the collector and inquired about the matter.
The bank officials lodged a complaint with Mayurbhanj police and the investigation was subsequently handed over to the EOW of Crime Branch.
Following this, a team of EOW officials visited Baripada on April 21 and launched a probe into the matter. Preliminary investigation suggests the fraudsters are based out of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal, sources said.
Since the frauds had got their mobile phone number linked with the bank account of DMF to receive OTPs and other information, it was easy for them to evade the notice of the DMF managers.
The investigators are trying to ascertain as to how the gang members accessed the bank statement and details of cheques and involvement of insiders is not ruled out.
