Bhopal:
118 bank accounts were opened in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal to receive scholarships for management students. The huge sum was credited, but account holders didn’t receive a penny. In fact, most of them had no inkling that the accounts even existed and that their names were being used by a racket comprising bank officials and college management to swindle the government.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has unearthed a scam in which Rs 1 crore was embezzled. The agency has registered a case against six people, including a bank manager. It is also investigating whether similar scams were being carried out in other colleges.
The embezzlement was carried out between January 2020 and October 2021 by some people linked to the management college and officials of the UCO Bank’s Habiganj branch.
How Was The Elaborate Scam Pulled Off
According to the CBI, the MBA students had no idea that bank accounts were being run in their names. They had never applied for scholarships.
During these months, Rs 99,48,999 were deposited in these accounts. The entire sum was withdrawn, and the beneficiaries received nothing.
The matter came to light when Lokesh Kumar, Bhopal Zonal Head and Deputy General Manager of UCO Bank, filed a complaint with the bank regarding suspicious transactions and account operations. Following the complaint, the CBI initiated a preliminary investigation. During the investigation, bank records, account opening documents, and scholarship payment records were examined.
This investigation revealed several significant findings.
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According to the CBI case, the college administration prepared account opening forms using students’ names and documents. These forms were forged with the students’ signatures. In many cases, personal information was also incorrectly entered. The Know Your Customer (KYC) process required for bank accounts was bypassed or fraudulently completed.
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The certificates provided by the college to open the accounts were also fraudulent.
The mobile numbers linked to the bank accounts belonged to college officials or people close to them, rather than the account holders. Hence, OTPs required to carry out transactions were received on the phones of those linked to the scamsters.
The ATM cards issued by the bank were not handed over to the students. All debit cards were handled by a college employee named Ram Singh Verma.
As soon as the scholarship funds were credited to the accounts, the accused withdrew the money using the ATM cards and OTP. In many cases, the withdrawals were made immediately after the funds were deposited.
The CBI alleges that Prema Verma, then senior manager of UCO Bank, also played a key role in the scam. It says that the manager was responsible for verifying all documents before opening accounts, completing KYC, verifying mobile numbers, and ensuring that ATM issuance procedures were followed. However, all these rules were ignored.
The CBI states that the bank officials and the college administration conspired to embezzle government funds. Therefore, in addition to the Prevention of Corruption Act, serious sections such as fraud, forgery, and the preparation and use of forged documents have also been imposed.
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Prema Verma, Vinay Malhotra, director of the Academy of Management College, Professor Aditya Malhotra, Assistant Professor Manoj Jain, Assistant Professor Vinesh Meshram and college employee Ram Singh Verma have been named in the case. The CBI has named other unidentified individuals as accused in the case, indicating the scope of the investigation may expand further.
The accused have denied these allegations. The college administration maintains that it is fully cooperating with the investigating agencies and that no irregularities have occurred in the scholarship scheme.
