Explore Business Standard
Bank Frauds
At least 15 more banks are set to implement the RBI-developed MuleHunter platform over the next two months to intensify efforts to tackle fraud by identifying accounts used for fraudulent transactions, a senior official said on Friday. Five lenders, including Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and AU Small Finance Bank, have already implemented the platform developed by the RBI Innovation Hub, a fully-owned subsidiary of the central bank, while Federal Bank is set to adopt it over the next few days, the official added. Mule accounts, or accounts created by fraudsters to receive, transfer or launder illicit funds collected from unsuspecting victims, have been a big challenge for the banking system because such accounts, which are generally opened using fraudulently obtained credentials, are used for transferring proceeds of financial frauds. Usually, there are multiple layers of such accounts from where funds are transferred within a short time to ensure
A fugitive wanted by Delhi Police in a Rs 4.55 crore bank fraud case was successfully deported from the UAE on Friday in an operation coordinated by the CBI with Interpol channels, officials said. Udit Khullar was brought to the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Friday, where he was taken into custody, they said. "The subject was earlier geo-located in the UAE through close follow-up by the CBI through Interpol with NCB-Abu Dhabi," a CBI spokesperson said in a statement. Khullar was wanted by the Special Cell of Delhi Police for alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery for securing three fraudulent home loans from nationalised and private banks in a "well-knit criminal conspiracy" with his associates, the agency said. He submitted forged documents of properties which he did not own to the banks to secure the loans, it said. "Khullar was arrested in the UAE and subsequently the CBI requested the UAE authorities to deport the subject to India," the spokesperson said.
A 47-year-old building material supplier was arrested from Lucknow on Saturday by the Mumbai police in connection with the Rs 122-crore New India Co-Operative Bank embezzlement case, an official said. Pawan Amarsingh Jaiswal, who was among the six wanted accused in the case, was apprehended by a team of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai police around 8 am, the official said. Jaiswal, a resident of Jharkhand, is accused of receiving Rs 3.5 crore from the total embazzeled amount. He is the ninth person to be arrested in the case so far, the official said. The EOW had received specific information that the accused was staying in Lucknow. Accordingly, a team was sent to the Gomatinagar Extension in the Uttar Pradesh capital, and Jaiswal was apprehended from his residence, he said. He was produced in a local court, which has granted his transit remand till July 7. The accused is being brought to Mumbai, the official said. According to the EOW, Rs 122 crore was siphoned off fro
The Mumbai police on Tuesday conducted a polygraph test on New India Cooperative Bank Limited's former general manager and head of accounts, Hitesh Mehta, who is the prime accused in the Rs 122 crore embezzlement case, officials said. A team of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the police will also visit the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and meet senior officers soon to collect information about why the central bank conducted an inspection on February 12, which uncovered the discrepancies, and not prior to that, an official said. "The polygraph test, also called a lie detector test, was conducted on Mehta at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Mumbai's Kalina this afternoon," he said. In the last few years, Mehta is the first accused on whom the Mumbai EOW has conducted a polygraph test, he said. "The test lasted three hours, and as many as 50 questions were asked to Mehta, who is the prime accused in the case," he said. The officials had prepared a questionnaire, and forensi
Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) will conduct a polygraph test on Tuesday on former New India Co-operative Bank general manager Hitesh Mehta, arrested in connection with the Rs 122-crore embezzlement at the lender, officials said on Monday. The polygraph test, or lie detector test, will be conducted at the state-run Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) at Kalina in western suburbs, an official said. Mehta, who served as general manager and head of accounts at the fraud-hit lender, was arrested last month. He is the prime accused in the case related to alleged misappropriation of Rs 122 crore from the bank over a period of five years. A Mumbai court has granted permission to the EOW to conduct forensic psychological tests on Mehta as part of its investigation into the case, he said. So far, the EOW has arrested four persons and as many more have been named as wanted accused, including the bank's former chairman Hiren Bhanu and his wife, ex-vice-chairperson Gauri Bhanu, who
New India Coop Bank's ex-general manager, Hitesh Mehta, used to call two staffers, instructing them to hand over Rs 50 lakh at a time from the bank's safes to persons he sent, police officials have said. Mehta and real estate developer Dharmesh Paun have been in custody since Sunday in connection with the alleged embezzlement of Rs 122 crore from the bank that was uncovered following an inspection by the Reserve Bank of India. The Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai police is probing the case. Mehta had access to the bank's safes as he was the custodian. The statements of two bank staffers have been recorded. They have said how they used to give cash to those sent by Mehta. These bank staffers, who are witnesses in the case, have said they handed Rs 50 lakh cash more than once to several persons, the official said on Thursday. The probe so far has found that a former employee of the lender wrote to RBI about the prevailing situation, he said, adding this information is being verif
The number of bank frauds witnessed a significant on-year increase in the first half of the current fiscal to 18,461 cases and the amount involved jumped more than eight-fold to Rs 21,367 crore, according to RBI data released on Thursday. The Reserve Bank of India has released the Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2023-24 which presents the performance of the banking sector, including commercial banks, co-operative banks and non-banking financial institutions, during 2023-24 and 2024-25 so far. The report said the number of frauds during April-September stood at 18,461 involving Rs 21,367 crore compared to 14,480 cases involving Rs 2,623 crore in the comparative period of the last financial year, based on the date of fraud reporting. It further said frauds present multiple challenges for the financial system in the form of reputational risk, operational risk, business risk and erosion of customer confidence with financial stability implications. Regarding 2023-24 fis
The number of frauds in the banking sector went up to 36,075 in 2023-24 year-on-year, but the amount involved reduced by 46.7 per cent to Rs 13,930 crore, according to the Reserve Bank's annual report released on Thursday. The RBI report also said that with an aim to curb frauds and enhance the payment experience further, the introduction of real-time payee name validation before the actual fund transfer will be explored in compliance with newly enacted The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023'. During 2023-24, the amount involved in frauds was Rs 13,930 crore, down from Rs 26,127 crore a year ago. The number of frauds increased to 36,075 during 2023-24 from 13,564 in the preceding financial year. An assessment of bank group-wise fraud cases over the last three years indicates that while private sector banks reported maximum number of frauds, public sector banks continued to contribute maximum to the fraud amount, said the Annual Report for 2023-24. "Frauds have occurred ...