The Madras High Court has directed Indian Bank, Koyambedu branch, to return to Chennai Port Trust (CPT) ₹55.19 crore out of ₹100.57 crore that had got mired into a controversy following certain fraudulent transactions now being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Since half the money was saved due to freezing of a current account on May 14, 2020, the court ordered return of that money.
Justice R. Mahadevan issued the direction after hearing all parties including the Reserve Bank of India represented by advocate Chevanan Mohan. He observed that the ongoing investigation by the CBI would in no way preclude Indian Bank from giving back ₹55.19 crore that got saved due to timely action taken by the bank by freezing a current account which had been opened through misrepresentation.
The judge ordered that the money should now be transferred to an account maintained by CPT with State Bank of India. The interim order was passed on a writ petition filed by CPT demanding return of the entire fixed deposit of ₹100.57 crore along with interest. The judge also expressed shock at the way in which such amount had been transferred to a fake account by adopting a novel modus operandi.
He took note of Indian Bank’s submission that the involvement of several staff of CPT could not be ruled out and that the bank alone could not be blamed for the fictitious transfer of funds. It was brought to the notice of the court that Ganesh Natarajan, claiming to be the Deputy Manager (Finance) of CPT, had visited the bank on multiple occasions along with Manimozhi in March last year.
He had opened a current account in the name of Chennai Port Trust General Insurance Fund on production of PAN card, Aadhaar card and a requisition letter issued by the authorised signatory of CPT along with a Board resolution to open the account. Accordingly, the account was opened after complying with Know Your Customer (KYC) norms.
On March 12, 2020, the alleged impersonator handed over original fixed deposit receipts of CPT and requested the bank to pre-close the deposits and transfer the money to the current account. Accordingly, the money was transferred. However, the account was frozen on May 14, 2020 when the alleged fraud came to light but by then, only ₹55.19 lakh was available in it.
Subsequently, on May 15, 2020, when the two impersonators Ganesh Natarajan and Manimozhi visited the bank, they were caught hold by the bank staff and handed over to Koyambedu police. Thereafter, the bank lodged a complaint with the CBI on May 18 and a First Information Report (FIR) got registered on July 31, 2020, the bank told the court.
However, CPT claimed that the bank ought not to have pre-closed the fixed deposits at any one’s instance since the money had been deposited at a special rate of interest for a period of one year on condition that pre-closure would not be permissible at all.
