UP man runs fake branch of Karnataka Bank for a month, opens 15 saving accounts

The likes of this case can only be found in movies. A man in Uttar Pradesh opened a fake branch of Karnataka Bank in an attempt to embezzle funds. The man, Aafaq Ahmed, who went by the name Vinod Kumar Kamble, duped the people of Mulayam Nagar of Fefna area in Ballia district by urging them to open bank accounts in the fake bank. He took a minimum balance of Rs 1000 for an account, while for the fixed deposits he took money ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 70,000. Ahmed was eventually arrested and a sum of Rs 1.37 lakh was recovered. Ahmed was operating as the bank manager and multiple fake identification cards, including an Aadhaar was found with him. His ids mentioned that he was from Mumbai West. In a sequence, what had happened was that the additional general manager (AGM) of Karnataka Bank in Delhi received a phone call from an individual expressing his suspicions about the Ballia district branch's activities. The authorities decided to dig deep into the matter and found that they have no branch in Ballia. They asked the caller to WhatsApp them a picture of the fake bank. Upon receiving the picture, the AGM, accompanied by the Varanasi branch headed to Ballia. The authorities then informed the police about the fake branch. The Circle Officer Hitendra Krishna, along with the bank officials and police force reached this branch, which was being run at the house of an ex-army man. Police found Ahmed aka Kamble and his employees working on computers on different tables. The officials asked for Ahmed's appointment letter, RBI licence and other documents authorized by Karnataka Bank. Upon failing to produce the same, Ahmed was arrested. The 'office space' he had rented was for Rs 32,000 per month. Ahmed's employees were hired for Rs 5000 per month. They however said that they had no knowledge of this scam and were given a clean chit. Ahmed still had neither paid the rent nor paid for the furniture he was using. An FIR was lodged against Ahmed under sections 419, 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC. The police are still looking into who else were involved in this scam. Source: Business Today