Yet another bank scam

The basic foundation of banking is the belief that if money is deposited in a bank, it is safe. However, our country has witnessed many types of bank scams. There are also people who have left the country after duping of crores of rupees from banks. Bank officials have been caught and jailed for fraud many times.

Solutions are also proposed to prevent such scams. Now no one needs to go to banks to know how much money is left in their account. For that mobiles and laptops is all that is needed. Even after all this facilities are provided, it is surprising that bank scams are still there.

The latest news is that Punjab National Bank manager misappropriated Rs.15 crores from the fund of Kozhikode Corporation. At first, the news was that Rs.98 lakhs was missing. Then it became Rs.2 crores. Now it is found that Rs.15 crores is missing including the Rs.10.81 crores from Kudumbasree account.

The corporation has 15 accounts in the Link Road branch of the bank. From these, money is missing from seven accounts. The most surprising thing is that the Corporation knew that money is missing only after five months. This scam shows how much irresponsible the Corporation is in managing their accounts.

It is found that the manager acted solely in stealing from these accounts. The manager, who is absconding, is believed to have used the stolen money in online gambling. The Crime Branch is now investigating the fraud.

In the press meet the Corporation mayor, Beena Philip, said that Rs.15.24 crores have been misappropriated from its accounts. The Punjab National Bank has informed that it will give the money in three days. Fraud has been committed in the bank statements also. The mayor said that it was the Corporation which found out about the fraud. The statement given by the Corporation and that which is at the bank are different.

The officials who are responsible to examine the accounts have failed in their duties. It must be found out whether more people are involved in the scam. The bank has revealed that fraud has been found in the internal auditing of the bank. In this backdrop it will be good if other Corporations also examine their accounts and make sure that their funds are safe.