An alert branch manager of Punjab National Bank (PNB) from Kurla has helped police unearth an organised cyber fraud group, whose suspected member allegedly opened 35 bank accounts for cyber fraud activities. Tainted money was allegedly deposited in these accounts and withdrawn overseas. Kurla police are investigating the matter.
The accused person—Amir Firoze Maniyar— who lives in Karjat-Raigad, was booked on the complaint of Sanjay Kumar Ram Das, 50, manager at PNB’s Kurla Takiya ward branch.
Das observed that a customer was frequenting the branch, accompanying a different person every time and helping them open a bank account.
Since there was a significant increase in the number of complaints received from the bank’s headquarters regarding cyber fraud linked to bank accounts from the Kurla branch, Das discussed the issue with his subordinate officer, Raviraj Gaikwad. Gaikwad said he too had been observing Maniyar, who he said could be a link to the cyber fraud cases.
Das’s suspicion deepened, and on November 19, when the said customer visited the bank again, Das called him in his office and asked him why he was frequenting the branch.
The person identified himself as Amir Maniyar, explained that he has an export business, and the people he was helping open accounts were his relatives. He needed their accounts for his business, the police complaint said.
On further inquiry, Maniyar told Das that he had so far helped 10 relatives. On Das’s instructions, Maniyar wrote details of these bank accounts in Das’s diary, which he cross-checked with the complaints received from the bank’s headquarters.
Das found the name Amir Shaikh mentioned in the cyber fraud complaint registered at a police station in Bangalore, and the same person also held one of the 10 accounts of which Maniyar had shared details.
Das then confronted Maniyar, saying the accounts he had opened were used in cyber frauds. Maniyar refuted the allegations and said he had not done anything wrong, the police complaint stated.
Das called up the police and asked his bank officers to dig deeper and find out details of all accounts opened with Maniyar’s help. Das discovered that since September, Maniyar had managed to get 35 accounts opened in the branch, for which VISA cards too had been issued.
“Upon examining transactions on these accounts, I observed suspicious financial transactions and frequent ATM withdrawals from foreign locations,” Das states in the FIR. Having confirmed his suspicions, Das filed an official complaint and Kurla police registered an FIR.
“We are still investigating, and we have sought documents from the bank to verify the allegations. No arrest has been made yet. We will summon the accused when we need to investigate further,” said Pramod Toradmal, senior inspector of Kurla police station.
The complainant bank manager Sanjay Kumar Ram Das did not respond to phone calls and messages.
