The Matunga police have registered a case of forgery against the deputy bank manager of Dadar branch of a nationalised bank for making bogus receipts and siphoning away Rs 1.85 crore from the bank. Police said the accused deputy manager claims he spent and lost the cash in online gambling. Police are yet to arrest him but have started the investigation.
The departmental head of the bank, Rajeev Langar, had recently registered a case with the Matunga police station against Sadashiv Gurud, 31, the deputy bank manager of Dadar branch, under section 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent) and 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc) of the Indian Penal Code.
As per the information given to the police, Gurud has been working in the bank since 2012. The fraud came to light when the challan checking department from Bandra reached the Dadar branch to check why Rs 2.05 crore had been deposited in the Dadar branch. “Bank officials checked the status of the amount and why it had been kept in the Dadar branch. On checking, it was found that only Rs 29.16 lakh had been deposited in the bank. Langar had visited the Dadar branch on November 6, 2021, and shared the details with the branch administrator of the Dadar branch. They had inquired with Gurud, who holds the responsibility for the transactions and deposits within the bank,” said a police officer from the Matunga police station.
Initially, Gurud gave indifferent responses and claimed he was not aware about the cash. However, later, he confessed to the crime and said he had spent the cash on online gambling.
“It was found during questioning that he had deposited the amount in three current bank accounts and six other accounts. He used his two mobile phones to transfer the cash to the accounts. Gurud had used two gambling sites where he had spent the cash, which are to be verified. He got the link to the gambling app from the MK. online family group, which he claims, is on Telegram app,” said a police officer.
Police said he had transferred the cash to nine different bank accounts. “He had prepared a fake challan or receipt, which he never deposited. He had made bogus entries in the cash balance register and cash report. So, the amount was seen on paper, but was not in the bank. The matter is being investigated. The bank official who investigated had found the forgery and accordingly a case was registered,” said a police officer.
Deepak Chavan, senior police inspector, Matunga police station, confirming the development, said, “We have registered a case on the complaint of the bank officials and are further investigating the matter. Prima facie it has been found that the accused had spent the cash on online gambling. Our team has started the investigation and will soon arrest the accused. The picture will be clearer once the accused is arrested,” added Chavan.
