In 1987, the SBI branches located in Madhya Pradesh were scared of a fraud which was being committed in different branches.
The bank used to lose several lakhs frequently, and no clue was left by the criminal so that the crime could be detected. No evidence was on record to book the criminal.
The case was investigated by the Jabalpur Branch of CBI, and it was found that one accused who was from Andhra Pradesh was involved in this fraud. He was very intelligent and got his entrance into the prestigious Institute of Engineering at Warangal, A.P. Somehow, he entered the world of crime. The first attempt was to withdraw Rs. twenty-five from the account of his father by forging his signature. He got success. This was the beginning. Thereafter, he never looked back.
Somehow, he got access to a few cheques stolen from SBI. In order to know the processing of the payment in the bank, he used to visit any overcrowded branch of SBI and watch the process as to how a token is issued and how the payment is processed thereafter.
He then used to obtain the signature of the passing officer on the transit book through which a particular cheque, after being cleared, was sent to the cashier for final payment. This exercise was necessary and, therefore, he used to practice imitating the signature of the passing officer.
The cashier used to call the person for final payment after retaining the token. This was the usual practice in those days. Thereafter, he used to wait for some time when the cashier would leave his cabin once the payment was cleared. Getting the opportunity, he used to enter the cashier’s cabin. First, he used to tear the relevant page regarding the clearance of his payment, then the cheque and the token were also removed.
No evidence, therefore, was left. One mistake he committed subsequently, and one day he was caught red-handed.
In Sagar Branch, he got a payment of Rs. two lakhs but insisted on small currency notes. The cashier then approached the passing officer who denied having cleared any payment for two lakhs on that day.
Since the bank was already on alert mode, the accused was caught red-handed and handed over to CBI for investigation.
Modus Operandi
The accused, after obtaining the signature of the passing officer, used to practice forging this signature. In the stolen cheque, he used to write an imaginary figure: “Pay in cash, Pe Vee Enterprises.”
Since the entire step was taken by him and not by the banker, nothing could be detected.
(Dr. J.P. Mishra)
SP / SVU / Patna
