The Andhra Pradesh government has handed over the fake cheques case to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
Unidentified persons made a vain bid to draw ₹112 crore from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund using false cheques presented in various banks in Karnataka, West Bengal and New Delhi, and the fraud had come to light a few days ago when the alert bank officials cross-checked the transactions with their counterparts in Guntur and Vijayawada.
“We received instructions from the government on the alleged fraud in the CMRF. The ACB will takeover the case in a day or two,” a senior officer told The Hindu on Sunday.
Officials of the Revenue Department in the Secretariat are shocked at the attempt made to draw huge funds using fake cheques that almost resemble the original ones.
According to the Revenue Department personnel, the miscreants have created fake cheques bearing the numbers of the cheques issued by the department. However, the dates of issuance of the cheques are different.
“The accused prepared the fake cheques with the signatures of the officials and their stamps (seals). The bank authorities are shocked over the racket and alerted their counterparts and later the police,” an investigation officer said.
The ACB is likely to take possession of the documents related to the sanction of amounts under the CMRF. The officials will probe how much amount has been sanctioned in the last few months, the names of beneficiaries, their addresses, and in which banks and branches the cheques have been encashed.
The police are trying to find out how the miscreants have come to know about the numbers of the original cheques issued in the last few months and the role of insiders, if any, in the racket.
They will also probe if there are similar instances earlier, and if so in which banks and branches the amounts have been withdrawn, and the number of persons involved.
“As part of the investigation, we will question the personnel of the Revenue Department and the bank staff at Velagapudi and Vijayawada, and the bank staff in West Bengal, New Delhi and Mangalore where the accused attempted to encash the cheques. The documents and the fake cheques will be sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory,” a police officer said.
The police, who began their investigation, are verifying with their counterparts in the cyber crime and other departments if there are instances of crime with similar modus operandi.
“We suspect that the accused are experts in creating fake documents and forgery,” a senior police officer said.
Meanwhile, the police are verifying the movements of the gangs involved in the selling of fake education and other certificate in different parts of A.P. and neighbouring States.
