Kangra Cooperative Bank account with RBI loses Rs 7.79 crore in cyber fraud case
According to the complaint, the bank officials informed all the concerned officials but no one was able to find out the reason for such huge mismatch.
Kangra Cooperative Bank's account with RBI loses Rs 7.79 crore in cyber fraud case
In a shocking case, a police complaint filed by the bank alleged that a cyber fraud had diverted Rs 7.79 crore from the current account of the Kangra Cooperative Bank.
The fraud occurred in three separate transactions over three consecutive days, the first on April 19, 2023.
As the bank is financially supervised by the RBI and the current account that has been the victim of fraud is also with the regulator, the cyber theft has unnerved senior officials.
They have not been able to identify the person who withdrew the money through fraudulent transactions, though Kangra Bank officials said they have been able to identify the accounts to which the money was transferred.
Kangra Bank Senior Manager (IT) Sahdev Sangwan told the Delhi Police that an FIR was filed in the first week of May and an investigation is underway.
In his complaint, Sangwan said that Kangra Bank maintains current accounts with RBI for banking transactions like Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), National Automated Clearing House (NACH), National Electronic Fund Transfer, Check Truncated System for customers.
As per the procedure adopted by Kangra Bank and RBI, the bank has issued a standing order to the regulator to transfer Rs 4 crore daily from its current account to a settlement account so that it can offer RTGS and NACH transactions to its customers.
At the end of the day or the next morning, RBI sends an email to the bank stating that the settlement account has been settled throughout the day and is taken by Kangra Bank officials. The remaining amount is transferred from the settlement account to the current account
"On April 20, 2023, when the RBI sent the statement for all the transactions made on April 19 in the settlement account, Kangra Bank officials noticed something unusual. They realized that more than Rs 3.14 crore had been transferred from the settlement account to the current account, a probe into the case said. sources said.
According to the complaint, the bank officials informed all the concerned officials but no one was able to find out the reason for such huge mismatch.
Surprisingly, the same thing happened in the next two days when more than Rs 2.40 crore was received from the current account and more than Rs 2.23 crore from the current account. The amount of suspected fraud in three days was about Rs 7.79 crore.
Sangwan said in the complaint that Kangra Bank informed the concerned department of RBI and other officials engaged in financial security and identified the accounts with other banks to which the Rs 7.79 crore was transferred.
However, the person(s) who withdrew the money through fraudulent transactions have not been identified
Delhi Police suspects cyber hacking or tampering as the accused are unknown to the bank.
Started as a small thrift/credit society in March, 1960 by a handful of friends in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, Kangra Co-operative Bank Limited was born in 1972 to provide financial assistance to the Himachals living in Delhi. When RBI allowed it to carry out banking activities
With 12 branches across Delhi, it is the largest urban co-operative bank under the Government of Delhi through the Registrar of Co-operative Societies.
