The general manager of the Kochi unit of a UAE-based export company was allegedly taken for a ride by a man who duped him of ₹2 lakh by masquerading as the assistant general manager (AGM) of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
It all started some six months ago when T.V. Pushkaran, the general manager, posted the requirement for steel wire rod for his company engaged in the export of lifting equipment on a trade-facilitating portal.
Shortly thereafter, a person by the name Narayan Das, claiming to be the AGM, marketing, SAIL, contacted him and offered to supply steel. A few communications were exchanged at the end of which Mr. Pushkaran placed an order for five tonnes of steel worth ₹3.65 lakh.
“At no point did his credentials appeared suspect, and he even sent us an invoice for the order signed by him on behalf of SAIL,” said Mr. Pushkaran, an expatriate who returned to Kochi four years ago after numerous stints in various West Asian countries.
He then paid ₹1.50 lakh in three separate online transfers between June 4 and 10 from his personal accounts in YES Bank, Padivattom, and HDFC Bank, Banerjee Road, to an account (0158000102475948), which he was made to believe was maintained by SAIL with the Durgapur branch of Punjab National Bank. However, Das contacted him shortly, saying that another ₹50,000 would have to be paid to get the consignment released from Coimbatore where it had been stuck.
Mr. Pushkaran transferred the amount to another account (95222600001581) maintained with Syndicate Bank. He turned suspicious when the consignment did not arrive even after that payment.
“I visited the regional offices of both PNB and Syndicate Bank here and realised to my shock that both the accounts were in the names of one Shyam Maitra. While the account with Syndicate Bank was blank, the PNB account had a balance of ₹1.75 lakh, which we got frozen. The moot question is how the online payments made against the payee name of SAIL got credited to an individual’s account,” he said.
More surprise was in store though when another similarly duped person from Ahmedabad contacted and told him that the person who had cheated him and gone by the name Shyam Maitra was now behind bars.
Since then, Mr. Pushkaran had lodged a petition with the Palarivattom police, cyber cell, Reserve Bank of India, and the Banking Ombudsman. “I tried to contact SAIL in vain though they probably have no clue about the fraud. However, the police are yet to register a First Information Report on my petition,” he said.
When contacted, police sources said that verification was required as the petition was filed more than four months ago.
