Loan fraud came to light after woman checked a/c

Thiruvananthapuram: The multi-crore fraud, in which subsidized loans of Thiruvananthapuram city corporation were siphoned off by a gang, came to light after a woman checked her account, said the probe officer.The five-member gang would help women to form self-help groups (SHGs) and process documents for the loan. The loans were sanctioned through Indian Bank and the beneficiaries were asked to open new accounts in the bank by the accused. For processing the loan, the gang charged each member a fee of Rs 1,500. Once the loan was sanctioned, the gang would transfer the money using the details they had accessed while forming the SHG and opening bank accounts.“The accused believed that the beneficiaries would not check the new accounts as all of them had another bank account for their regular business,” said police. However, when the bank blocked the regular account of a ‘beneficiary’ for non-payment of monthly installments of the loan, she approached the bank directly. “She took a detailed account statement and found that a loan was credited to her account and it was later transferred to another account. She immediately informed other members in the SHGs and all of them checked their bank accounts. It was then the massive fraud to the tune of Rs 4 crore came to light,” police said.Fort police arrested Rajila Rajan, 32, of Thekkevilakam Puthanveedu, Murukkumpuzha, in connection with the incident. Four others of the gang — Gracy, Anees, Anu and Rajesh — are still absconding. “Rajila’s role was to canvas unsuspecting women to form SHGs and apply for subsidized loans for starting various ventures offered by the corporation,” police said.“The gang was planning to invest the siphoned off money in some other business. Each self-help group gets Rs 5 lakh and Rs 3.5 lakh comes under subsidy. The plan was to settle the loans using the subsidy amount. However, all their plans went awry after one woman checked her account,” said police.

Bank accounts of poor used in courier frauds, 2 nabbed

Pune cyber police arrested two men, Naresh Jain alias Sureshbhai Desai and Azhar Atik Khan, for luring financially weaker individuals to rent their bank account details for money. The details were then passed on to cybercrooks for courier frauds. The main culprits, based in Dubai or China, remain at large. The arrested duo helped poor people open bank accounts and secured details from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and other states. They were caught after cheating a woman of Rs3 lakh in a parcel scam.

Bank of India launches savings account for women with independent income

Bank of India launches Nari Shakti Savings Account for women aged 18 and above with an independent source of income. Account includes Personal Accident Insurance cover, discounted Health Insurance & Wellness products, rebates on locker facilities, and free facilities for Platinum account holders. Concessional rate of interest on Retail Loans, waiver of processing charges, free issuance of Credit Cards, and higher usage limit on POS transactions. Bank contributes Rs. 10/- towards CSR fund for each new account opened. Account accessible through branches and digital platforms, empowering women economically and contributing to social development.

Flood relief amount via bank accounts as well, says govt

The state government has decided to credit the flood relief amount in bank accounts for certain categories of people such as cardholders drawing sugar through the PDS, and higher officials of the state/central governments and public sector undertakings and IT payees. They should submit applications to the PDS outlets, if their livelihood was affected, and if their clothes, utensils, household appliances were damaged in the torrential rain triggered by cyclone Michaung. The cooperative department and civil supplies corporation have been directed to keep enough applications at the PDS outlets. The PDS outlets will hand over the relief amount of 6,000 in cash to the rice cardholders after distributing tokens in advance. Flood-affected families in all taluks in Chennai are entitled to get the relief amount of Rs 6,000. Families in Tambaram, Pallavaram, Vandalur taluks and three villages of Thiruporur taluk in Chengalpet district, Kundrathur taluk and three revenue villages of Sriperumbudur taluk in Kancheepuram district and Ponneri, Gummidipoondi, Avadi, Poonamallee, Uthukottai and Tiruvallur taluks in Tiruvallur districts are also entitled to get flood relief amount. In a letter to the government on Tuesday, revenue and disaster management commissioner S K Prabakar said a decision had already been taken to give relief in cash to beneficiaries immediately.