Over Rs.60 lakh fraudulently withdrawn from IAF’s fund

NEW DELHI - A whopping Rs.60 lakh-plus has been withdrawn fraudulently from the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) account in a nationalised bank, an official said Tuesday.

The IAF has instituted an enquiry and also filed an FIR with the civil police after it was found that unidentified fraudsters systematically withdrew nearly Rs.48.5 lakh from the bank using 15 counterfeit cheques with forged signatures in a week, from June 4-10.

Fraudsters also managed to withdraw about Rs.14 lakh through various ATMs across several states, the official said quoting bank sources. However, “the exact figure is yet to be ascertained”, he said.

The fraudulent withdrawal from the unnamed bank operating IAF’s Public Fund account was detected by Air Force Central Accounts Office (AFCAO) officials.

The IAF has also ordered validation of all its public and non-public accounts held at all its establishments.

The official said the bank has “agreed to reverse the entire lost amount to the IAF as it was their responsibility to verify the genuineness of the cheques and their signatories”.

“The cheques were dropped at drop boxes at various places and the banking system failed to detect the fraudulent cheques with fake signatures,” he said.

The fake cheques originated from various parts of the country based on fictitious bank accounts opened, presumably by production of fake documents like discharge book, and certificate of service, among other documents.