The State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday refunded ₹6 lakh to Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in lieu of the amount that was fraudulently withdrawn from the trust’s bank account through two cloned cheques earlier this month. The trust operates two bank accounts from the SBI’s main branch in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
On Monday, the trust tweeted from its official twitter handle, “The amount of 6 lakh rupees, which was fraudulently transferred from the bank account of Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra using fake cheques & signatures, has been duly returned to the trust’s account by SBI. Our gratitude to SBI management for their swift action.”
Champat Rai, general secretary of the trust, also confirmed the return of the money.
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“The SBI has returned to the trust the ₹6 lakh which was fraudulently withdrawn from the bank account of the trust,” said Champat Rai.
On September 1, a fraudster had transferred ₹2.5 lakh and on September 8 another ₹3.5 lakh from the trust’s bank account at SBI, Ayodhya, through two cloned cheques and forged signatures into an account at Punjab National Bank, Lucknow.
{{/usCountry}}On September 1, a fraudster had transferred ₹2.5 lakh and on September 8 another ₹3.5 lakh from the trust’s bank account at SBI, Ayodhya, through two cloned cheques and forged signatures into an account at Punjab National Bank, Lucknow.
{{/usCountry}}The fraud came to light when Rai received a verification call from the SBI regarding another cheque worth ₹9.86 lakh on September 9 apparently issued by the trust. Rai, who was in Ayodhya, verified that the cheque, with the number quoted by the bank, was still in the trust’s chequebook. By then, two other cloned cheques had already been used to defraud the trust.