A local court here on Monday has sentenced an employee of the Central Bank of India’s Charminar branch to undergo three-year rigorous imprisonment for defrauding the bank to the tune of nearly Rs. 1.6 crore five years ago.
The 12 Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court has also imposed a fine of Rs. 20,000 on the employee Srinivas Sahu in addition to the jail term holding him guilty of the fraud. A computer operator in the bank, Sahu collected login identities and passwords of the colleagues relating to the bank’s internal accounts to oversee their work when they go on leave or busy with other works.
Using these passwords, he started transferring funds to other bank accounts which he had opened in his name. Later, he withdrew money from these accounts. “During audit periods, he used to adjust the money and thus ensured the fraud was not detected immediately,” the Hyderabad Central Crime Station officials said.
Within three years, he had allegedly withdrawn nearly Rs. 1.6 crore in this fashion. Eventually, a new bank branch manager grew suspicious of the bank accounts balances and ordered for an internal inquiry in 2008. The Hyderabad CCS registered a criminal case following a complaint lodged by the bank officials and filed charge-sheet after arresting him.
The then CCS Inspector S. Anil Kumar, now DSP with Vigilance and Enforcement, investigated into the case.
(eom)
