Rs 820 Crore Fraud in UCO Bank, CBI files case against engineers responsible for Bank App

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches across Rajasthan and Maharashtra concerning suspicious IMPS transactions worth Rs 820 crore at UCO Bank. The CBI has also filed a case against two engineers of a firm that maintains the banking app of UCO Bank, in connection with an alleged fraud of Rs 820 crore.

Avishek Srivastava and Supriya Mallick are the support engineers at M/s Lcode Technologies Pvt Ltd, a company which maintains the mobile banking app of UCO Bank. According to the FIR, an alleged fraud of Rs 820 crore took place between November 10-13 last year through altering the port number of IMPS (Immediate Payment System).

The transactions occurred over a specific period, leading to wrongful crediting of funds to numerous UCO Bank account holders. Last year, over 8,53,049 IMPS (Immediate Payment System) transactions took place between November 10-13 in which Rs 820 crore was wrongfully transferred to the accounts of over 41,000 UCO Bank account holders.

“IMPS inward transactions initiated from around 14,600 account holders of seven private banks were wrongfully posted in the accounts of over 41,000 UCO Bank account holders. This resulted in Rs 820 crore being credited to UCO Bank accounts without actual debiting from the originating banks,” a CBI spokesperson said.

IMPS Transaction Irregularities:

Between November 10-13 last year, a significant number of IMPS transactions, totaling over 8,53,049, took place. These transactions resulted in the transfer of Rs 820 crore to the accounts of more than 41,000 UCO Bank account holders. However, these transfers were erroneous, as the money was not rightfully supposed to be credited to these accounts.

CBI Involvement and Raid Details:

The CBI, in connection with these irregular transactions, conducted searches at 67 locations in Rajasthan and Maharashtra. The focus of these searches was on individuals who received the wrongly credited money and withdrew it instead of returning it to the bank. This action represents the second round of searches conducted in this case.

Previous Searches and Seizures:

Earlier, in December 2023, similar searches were carried out at 13 locations involving private individuals and UCO Bank officials in Kolkata and Mangalore. During these operations, several incriminating documents related to UCO Bank and IDFC were seized, along with 43 digital devices for forensic analysis. Additionally, 30 suspects were examined on-site.

The case was registered in late November 2023 following a complaint from UCO Bank. Allegedly, IMPS inward transactions from approximately 14,600 account holders of seven private banks were incorrectly posted to the accounts of over 41,000 UCO Bank account holders. Consequently, Rs 820 crore was credited to UCO Bank accounts without proper debiting from the source banks.