RCF lodges case after 62 cheques worth ₹31 crore stolen, attempts made to withdraw money

Finding the transaction suspicious, Rana immediately alerted the State Bank of India’s Fort branch and senior officials, halting the payment. Further scrutiny of the cheque revealed irregularities, including the handwritten name of the payee, which deviated from RCF’s standard practice of printed names

Mumbai: The RCF police in Chembur have registered a case of theft following a complaint from public-sector undertaking (PSU) Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF), a government-owned firm and leading manufacturer of fertilisers and industrial chemicals. The company reported the theft of 62 cheques with a cumulative withdrawal limit of ₹31 crore after detecting suspicious transactions.

RCF lodges case after 62 cheques worth ₹31 crore stolen, attempts made to withdraw money

According to RCF, its accounts department flagged certain suspicious cheque transactions. Upon investigation, it was discovered that 62 cheques had been stolen. The fraud came to light when Mahesh Rana, an employee in RCF’s cash department, noticed a cheque of ₹48.50 lakh deposited on December 23 at the Malwani branch of Kotak Mahindra Bank by an individual named Sameer Faiz Alam.

Finding the transaction suspicious, Rana immediately alerted the State Bank of India’s Fort branch and senior officials, halting the payment. Further scrutiny of the cheque revealed irregularities, including the handwritten name of the payee, which deviated from RCF’s standard practice of printed names. When shown to Finance Manager Vishal Wayal and authorised signatory Seema Naik, both denied signing the cheque.

Following an internal probe, RCF discovered that 62 cheques were missing, each with a withdrawal limit of approximately ₹50 lakh. The company suspects the theft occurred around November 22. On February 3, RCF lodged a formal complaint with the RCF police station, and SBI was instructed to stop payments on all missing cheques.

Despite the alert, another attempt was made to encash one of the stolen cheques. On February 24, SBI informed RCF that a cheque for ₹49.99 lakh, payable to Sahastrabahu Steel Private Limited, had been deposited at an HDFC Bank branch in Bihar. Upon examination, authorised signatories confirmed that the cheque bore forged signatures closely resembling their own.

On March 5, RCF submitted another complaint to the police, reinforcing its suspicions of fraud. Fortunately, due to the vigilance of the accounts department, both deposit attempts were thwarted. Had the fraudsters succeeded, they could have withdrawn up to ₹31 crore.

The RCF police have registered a case against unidentified persons under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including, section 303(2) (theft), section 317(4) (possession of stolen property), section 318(4) (cheating), section 336: (forgery), section 338, (forgery of valuable documents), section 340 (using forged documents as genuine), section 62 (attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment).