Incident Details:
* A Chief manager of a bank Mr. Harihar Devam lodged a complaint regarding irregularities in cash remittance deposited with a cash logistics/custodian company responsible for transferring money between banks.
* The Reserve Bank-authorized cash remittance process involved appointing a main custodian Mr. Sanjay Sharma and joint custodian Mr. Harsidhdh Kadiyar for handling cash. The accused was appointed as joint custodian.
* When large amounts of cash are received in the treasury, the custodian records and manages the cash.
* On 13 April, the joint custodian informed the branch manager that his health was not good and requested leave. Initially, one day leave was granted, followed by five days medical leave.
* After completion of the leave period, he again requested 17 more days leave from 20 April onwards. However, the bank rejected the leave request and instructed him to report for duty because a new main custodian was to be appointed.
* Since the employee did not return to duty, responsibilities were handed over to another staff member.
* During an internal audit by the RBI-authorized agency, a shortage of 174 sealed cash packets of ₹500 denomination was detected, amounting to approximately ₹8.70 crore.
* Investigation revealed that the cash packets had allegedly been removed from the bank treasury.
* It was also found that the accused had fled with his family from his residence in Chandkheda.
* A complaint regarding the matter has been registered at Kalupur Police Station.
Brief :
It has been alleged that a Bank of Baroda employee at the Kalupur branch embezzled Rs 8.7 crore from the company's currency reserves and concealed the shortfall by uploading fictitious balance certificates on the RBI's e-Kuber platform.
Following the employee's extended absence, the fraud was discovered during an internal audit. The accused, a resident of Chandkheda, was the joint custodian of the currency chest at the Gandhi Road branch, according to the chief manager's report submitted to Kalupur police on Friday.
Despite several calls and emails, he did not return after taking a leave of absence on April 13 due to health concerns. Officials found 174 reams of Rs 500 notes missing during the ensuing audit. Ten bundles of 100 notes apiece, totaling Rs 8.7 crore, were packed in each ream.
The "bin book" and Excel sheets used for daily reconciliation may have been manipulated, according to the complaint, which claims that internal records misrepresented the amount of cash as available. The certificates uploaded to the e-Kuber system were purportedly created using these documents.
The accused reportedly entered the branch on the evening of January 13, according to CCTV footage examined during the investigation. Soon after, a laborer and his kid came in, and the video shows the three of them leaving the branch with several boxes.
According to the complaint, security guards told him that evening that the accused was stealing boxes from the property. The accused allegedly stated that the boxes included scrap material intended for disposal when questioned at the time.
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