A man was arrested from Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district for fraudulently opening a branch of the Karnataka Bank for a month, and duping locals off Rs 1.37 lakh by opening fixed deposits ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 70,000.
According to a Times of India report, the accused Aafaq Ahmed, posed as a man named Vinod Kumar Kambali and claimed to be a bank manager.
The scam came into light when the AGM of the Karnataka Bank’s Delhi Branch received a phone call from a man in Ballia, who was suspicious of the bank’s activities. The AGM and other bank officials then sieved through the records to find no mention of the Ballia branch.
The AGM immediately travelled to Varanasi to inform his subordinates of the illegal branch, following which a team reached Ballia and sought the police’s help to nab the imposter, reported ToI.
Apart from the cash, the police also reportedly unearthed stationery, three computers, a laptop, and other articles. Ahmed was arrested by the police after he failed to produce the RBI license and other necessary documents to validate his claim.
According to the ToI report, the branch operated out of a retired army official’s house, for a rent of Rs 32,000. The bank also employed some locals for a salary of Rs 5,000 per month. However, the employees were let off after the police discovered that they were unaware of the scam.
An FIR has been lodged against the accused under sections 419, 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)