NRI gets `20 lakh back; but what about fraudsters?

In an out-of-court settlement, a widowed NRI based in the US, who had been awaiting justice in a `20-lakh bank fraud case involving her husband's fixed deposit (FD) account, has got her money back with interest after HT highlighted the matter.

She has agreed to the condition of the bank to withdraw the FIR. But a question remains over how employees booked for the fraud have effectively gone scot-free. Police have no qualms in quashing the FIR, and say that, as both parties have reached a compromise, it's now an internal matter of the bank to deal with employees involved in the case.

The SAS Nagar police had, on December 15 last year, booked three senior employees of the Phase 3B2 branch of IndusInd Bank for allegedly issuing a cheque book, using which `20 lakh were fraudulently withdrawn from the FD account of NRI late Maharaj Bains. The police had booked the then bank head Vishal Vinayak, who is now posted as branch head in Bathinda, and two senior employees, Arshpreet Kaur and Jaspreet Kaur.

The fraud was committed in 2010, following which the economic offences wing (EOW) of police conducted an inquiry for two years before registering the FIR.

Speaking over the phone from the US, the NRI's widow, Dr Amarjit Bains, said the bank had deposited the money in her account with interest "and I've also decided to withdraw the FIR as we too do not want to pursue the case; our concern was getting the money back, which we got two days ago".

But she added, "We agreed to their proposal as we lost all hope of getting justice from the police.
Maharaj Bains had breathed his last in the US in April 2009. The bank was told to freeze the FD account, but instead, a year after his death, the three employees allegedly gave their consent to issue a cheque book. When his wife enquired about the account, she was told that there was no money in the account. Following this, she filed a police complaint in 2010.

The case was registered under sections 419 and 420 for cheating, 465, 468 and 471 for forgery, and 120B for criminal conspiracy, of the Indian Penal Code.

Mataur police station house officer Naveen Pal Singh Lehal said, "Both the parties have reached a compromise as the NRI family got their money back. Though the FIR is yet to be quashed, they plan to withdraw it." Asked about the accused, he said, "The bank authorities can take action against them."