CBI files charge sheet in Rs 1000 crore Syndicate Bank scam

Charge sheet has been filed for criminal conspiracy and cheating by using forged documents as genuine

The CBI, on Tuesday, filed a charge sheet against a former Chief Manager of Syndicate bank and four others in an alleged scam of over Rs 1,000 crore committed by using fake cheques, letters of credit and LIC policies to withdraw money.

The charge sheet was filed in the designated CBI court here against S K Gupta, the then Chief Manager of Syndicate Bank's Udaipur branch, his wife Usha, chartered accountant Bharat Bamb, Jaipur-based businessman Shankar Khandelwal and Vipul Kaushik, who ran an NGO.

The charge sheet has been filed under various sections of Indian Penal Code related to criminal conspiracy and cheating by using forged documents as genuine, the CBI said.

The CBI has alleged that Khandelwal and Bamb provided forged and false cheques to Gupta who used to discount the cheques and credited the money to various accounts despite not having requisite powers.

The wife of the then Chief Manager was also involved in the conspiracy as she had received Rs 5.7 crore out of the defrauded bank funds and was a beneficiary and co-conspirator with her husband and others, the CBI claimed in its charge sheet.

During the probe it was found that LIC policies pledged against loans were allegedly fake and issued in the name of different persons for different terms and sum assured.

The CBI had registered a case in March this year against nine people, including bank officials besides Bamb and Khandewal for allegedly opening 386 accounts in three branches of Syndicate Bank in Rajasthan and "defrauding" the bank of Rs 1,000 crore using fake cheques, letters of credit and LIC policies.

The CBI had carried out searches at 10 locations across three cities— Delhi NCR, Jaipur and Udaipur.

The scam continued unabated through 2011-16, escaping getting noticed during audits.

The modus operandi of these people was to deposit fake cheques and get a discounted cash on them (For example for the face value of Rs 100 cheque, they got Rs 90 cash immediately).