Mumbai Crime: Seven held for Rs 50cr FD scam bid

Mumbai: Andheri Police arrested seven people in connection with a cheating attempt, where they were trying to palm off fake fixed deposit (FD) slips and cheat a leading private bank to the tune of Rs 50 crore. The seven arrested have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for cheating, forgery among others.

On Monday, five people had approached the Vishal Talkies branch of ICICI Bank and produced 'FD slips' seeking to transfer Rs 50 crore. Since the request was for a huge amount, it was taken to the manager, who found discrepancies in the slips. A verification test revealed that the account which held the FD sought to be transferred was that of an Andhra Pradesh resident, who had no clue about these slips.

The manager immediately informed Andheri Police. A police team reached the spot and took five men in custody. On questioning, it was learnt that the men had attempted to defraud the bank of Rs 50 crore, in a fake FD scam. They were arrested and booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for cheating, forgery, said Ankit Goyal, deputy commissioner of police, zone 10.

The arrested accused were identified as Manishbhai Parmar, 41, Agnel Nadar, 36, Sukhat Panda, 30, Vijay Zanke, 40 and Gautam Sharma, 35. During interrogation, they revealed that they had been helped by a relationship manager at the Bhayandar branch of ICICI Bank, Dharmendra Kumar, who had acquired fake FD slips from a Mira Road resident, Mohammad Aslam Shaikh. These two were also arrested and booked under the same charges.