As per the report, Dr Arti Vij, PRO, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to ANI news agency on AIIMS bank fraud, adding AIIMS detected a few cases wherein State Bank of India branches had ‘honoured’ some cloned/fake cheques worth Rs 12.44 crores.
Dr Arti Vij, PRO, AIIMS said that, AIIMS brought the fraud to the notice of SBI and has also reported the same to Economic Offence Wing, Delhi Police. Few incidences were prevented in time when SBI officials contacted the AIIMS authorised signatories to verify cheques before payments.
The money has been siphoned off from the bank accounts the AIIMS has with the State Bank of India (SBI) from its non-home branches in other cities. Even after the fraud came to light, attempts were made to illegally withdraw over ₹29 crore allegedly using cloned cheques from SBI’s non-home branches located in Dehradun and Mumbai in the last one week.
According to an official, fraud cheque leaves presented at SBI’s branches passed UV ray tests, and in most of the cases, the original cheque leaves with same series were still in the possession of the institute, the AIIMS asserted in a report to the health ministry.
A bank official stated that cheques amounting to ₹25,000 and more are examined under ultraviolet lamp. Also, as per the instructions of the Reserve Bank of India, if a bank fraud of beyond ₹3 crore is reported then the bank registers a complaint with the CBI. It is not immediately known whether the SBI has approached the CBI in the current case.
As per the source, the fraudsters attempted to withdraw over ₹20 crore from a non-home branch of SBI in Dehradun while ₹9 crore was attempted to be stolen from a branch of the bank in Mumbai. Prima facie there is no evidence suggesting direct role or complicity of AIIMS officials as the signatures of authorised signatories also seem to be forged, PTI news agency reported. The bank has sent an alert message which is popping up as soon as employees working in the transaction department open their systems.
