New Delhi, Dec 16 The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Patna Zonal Office, has carried out search operations at four locations in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, in connection with a major banking fraud involving fraudulent withdrawals from accounts held at a Punjab National Bank (PNB) branch in the district.
The searches were conducted on December 11 as part of a money laundering investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, officials said on Monday.
According to the ED, the case pertains to the fraudulent siphoning of approximately Rs 1.29 crore from the savings bank accounts of two individuals maintained at PNB’s Jawaharlal Road Branch in Muzaffarpur.
Of the total amount, around Rs 1.07 crore was withdrawn from one account, while Rs 22.40 lakh was siphoned off from another.
The investigation was initiated on the basis of two FIRs registered by the Bihar Police at Nagar Police Station, Muzaffarpur, under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
These offences qualify as scheduled offences under the PMLA, prompting the ED to take up a parallel probe into the laundering of the proceeds of crime
The agency also said the fraud was executed through a sophisticated modus operandi involving SIM card swapping and online banking manipulation.
The accused allegedly obtained duplicate SIM cards of the victims using forged identity documents, thereby gaining access to mobile numbers registered with the bank for SMS alerts and authentication.
During this period, internet banking services were activated by sending messages to PNB’s toll-free number, after which large sums were transferred from the victims’ accounts.
The stolen funds were routed through multiple layers of transactions, with a substantial portion withdrawn in cash from ATMs in Kolkata and subsequently deposited into different bank accounts using cash deposit machines (CDMs).
During the searches, the ED seized several incriminating documents and materials and froze bank balances amounting to approximately Rs 83 lakh linked to the perpetrators.
The agency said further investigation is underway to identify additional beneficiaries and trace the remaining proceeds of crime.
--IANS
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