A shocking cash fraud has come to light at a Punjab National Bank (PNB) currency chest in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, where genuine currency worth around Rs 7.4 crore was allegedly taken out of the vault and replaced with fake notes, according to a report by The Times of India.
The case has raised questions over how such a large amount of genuine currency could be removed from a bank's secured cash vault without being detected earlier.
Police have registered an FIR against bank officials and private individuals in connection with the alleged fraud. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has also been formed to find out how the cash was replaced and who was involved.
According to The Times of India, the FIR was registered at Sadar police station following a complaint by PNB nodal officer Arun Kumar Chaubey.
The FIR names senior divisional manager Ravi Kumar and currency chest managers Sushil Sharma and Amit Kumar as the primary suspects.
The case began to come to light after a cash remittance sent by the bank to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on August 10 was found to have a shortage of Rs 4.36 lakh.
That shortage prompted a detailed audit of the bank's cash holdings. During the audit, officials allegedly found a large quantity of counterfeit notes inside the currency chest.
The discovery was far bigger than the initial shortage.
The audit pointed to genuine currency worth around Rs 7.4 crore allegedly being replaced with fake notes. The final amount of counterfeit currency is still being counted and verified, PNB chief deputy manager Nisha Singh said, according to TOI.
“The inquiry is in progress,” Singh said, adding that the final findings would be made public once the bank has complete details and evidence against those involved.
Three bank officials among suspects
The names of three senior bank officials have emerged in the main FIR.
Senior divisional manager Ravi Kumar and currency chest managers Sushil Sharma and Amit Kumar have been named as primary suspects.
The allegations have put the focus on the people who had access to the currency chest and the process through which cash was stored, counted and moved.
Police are now checking bank transaction records, cash and audit ledgers and CCTV footage from the currency chest to understand how the alleged swap took place.
A separate report has also been filed against housekeeper Vishal Kumar over what officials described as a different cash shortage. It is not yet clear whether that case is connected to the larger alleged currency swap.
How did the fake notes get inside?
One of the biggest questions in the case is how counterfeit notes allegedly ended up inside a secured PNB currency chest in the first place.
Investigators are checking when the genuine cash was allegedly removed and when the fake notes were put inside the vault.
They are also looking at who had access to the cash chest and whether more people were involved.
Saharanpur DIG Abhishek said an SIT had been formed and an FIR registered against those allegedly involved. He said counting was still under way and the embezzled currency would be recovered after a detailed inquiry, according to TOI.
With the counting of fake notes still continuing, the exact scale of the alleged fraud is yet to be fully established.
The case has now turned the spotlight on the security and cash-handling process at the PNB currency chest, as investigators try to work out how Rs 7.4 crore in genuine currency could allegedly be replaced with counterfeit notes inside the bank itself.
