Rs 820 crore UCO bank scam: CBI conducts second round of searches; 2 Engineers booked
New Delhi, Mar 7: The CBI has conducted searches at 67 locations in seven cities of Rajasthan and Maharashtra in connection with the Rs 820-crore Immediate Payment System (IMPS) scam in UCO bank, officials said Thursday.
The searches that started on Wednesday and continued till Thursday pertain to the mammoth scam in UCO Bank that transpired in three days - November 10-13, 2023 - through 8,53,049 transactions spread across 2,874 branches in 41,296 accounts across 35 states and Union territories.
"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," the CBI Spokesperson said.
The transactions were initiated from IDFC First Bank, Jana Small Finance Bank, Suryoday Small Finance Bank, Fincare Small Finance Bank, Capital Small Finance Bank, Utkarsh Small Finance Bank and ESAF Small Finance Bank, the FIR registered on the basis of UCO bank's complaint and made public on Thursday alleged.
The CBI has filed the FIR against Avishek Srivastava and Supriya Mallick, Support Engineers in the Mangaluru-based LCode Technologies, it said.
The company was hired to develop and maintain mobile banking applications for the bank, including the IMPS channel, the FIR said.
It is suspected that both were present during the incident and log reports indicate that either of the two changed the port number of IMPS transactions without authorisation from the bank on November 8 at 7 PM, it alleged.
Because of the alleged changes made in the system, the core banking software credited the beneficiary's account but sent a failed message to the remitter bank through the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the FIR alleged.
"Due to this, the amount got credited in both banks i.e UCO and originating bank customers' accounts," it said.
It was also found that several of the account holders misused and made wrongful gains by withdrawing the proceeds from UCO Bank using various banking channels.
The bank also came across various social media posts where the fact has been mentioned that despite the transaction being reversed in the IMPS remitters' account, the IMPS beneficiary account with UCO bank was being credited.
"The suspected persons and their associates with criminal intent and ulterior motives, have colluded on a large scale, carried these transactions and committed the organised crime against the public sector bank i.e UCO Bank," it said.
The bank alleged in its complaint, which is now part of the FIR, that several account holders collaborated with others and undertook these illegal transactions in a syndicated manner.
The searches in Rajasthan and Maharashtra, which started on Wednesday and continued till Thursday, focused on people who received the money and withdrew it rather than returning it to the bank, officials said. This is the second round of searches.
In Rajasthan alone, the amount involved was over Rs 766 crore through 7,71,752 transactions spread across 232 branches, followed by Maharashtra, where Rs 11 crore came into dispute.
The bank has recovered Rs 664 crore but Rs 156 is yet to be realised, the bank said.
"Earlier in December 2023, searches were conducted at 13 locations involving private individuals and UCO Bank officials in Kolkata and Mangalore," the Spokesperson said.
Over 330 police personnel, including 120 from Rajasthan Police, in 40 teams and 80 independent witnesses were involved in the action spread across multiple cities, including Jodhpur, Jaipur, Jalore, Nagaur, Barmer, Phalodi) and Pune (Maharashtra).
"During these operations, approximately 130 incriminating documents related to UCO Bank and IDFC, as well as 43 digital devices (including 40 mobile phones, two hard disks, and one internet dongle) were seized for forensic analysis.
"Additionally, 30 suspects were also found and examined on the spot," the Spokesperson said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Commercial LPG hike: Delhi restaurant owners warn of higher menu rates, job losses
New Delhi (PTI) A day after a 50 per cent rise in commercial LPG cylinder prices, Delhi's food business, with restaurant owners and street vendors have warned of higher menu rates, financial strain and potential job losses if the trend persists.
The price of commercial LPG was hiked by a steep Rs 993 per 19 kg cylinder, marking the third consecutive monthly hike amid rising global energy prices linked to the West Asia conflict.
For many in the restaurant industry, the spike has been both sudden and steep.
Manpreet Singh, honorary treasurer of the National Restaurant Association of India, said that eateries are already grappling with supply challenges alongside rising costs.
"There is a huge difficulty in getting these cylinders, and black marketing is also increasing in many unregulated sectors," he said, noting that prices that were once around Rs 1,600, often dropping to nearly Rs 1,300 with discounts, have now surged to between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000 per cylinder.
He further added that a medium-sized restaurant typically uses between two and five cylinders daily, making the increase particularly burdensome as costs mount.
Singh further said that as costs mount, smaller establishments could struggle to stay afloat. Instead, the association has advised restaurants to shift towards piped natural gas connections through Indraprastha Gas Limited as a more sustainable alternative.
"If this problem continues, PNG is the only long-term solution," he said, adding that temporary measures like coal offer limited relief due to slower cooking times and that it can largely be used only for tandoors.
Echoing similar concerns, Kabir Suri, owner of Mamagoto in Khan Market, said the impact is already visible across the industry. "There has been almost a threefold increase in cylinder prices for restaurants," he said, adding that rising fuel and logistics costs are compounding the pressure.
"If this continues, it will become a significant financial burden, and food prices will inevitably go up. Adding to this burden, higher fuel costs are also affecting logistics and transportation, making a price rise unavoidable. The extent of the impact will vary between small eateries and large chains depending on their scale," he said.
Global oil prices have surged nearly 50 per cent following disruptions in energy supply chains due to the West Asia conflict, pushing up commercial fuel costs and transport expenses.
A West Delhi-based restaurateur said they are trying to manage rising costs while keeping their staff secure. "We are trying to ensure that our staff, from kitchen workers to waiters, are paid on time and do not face immediate hardship," the owner said.
"We are a small restaurant with seating for about 20 to 25 people at a time. But if this continues for long, we will have to take difficult calls. There is only so much we can absorb, and menu prices will have to go up. We hope this does not continue for a longer period," he said.
Another restaurant owner in North Delhi, who did not wish to be named, said operational adjustments alone may not be enough. "We are checking our costs very carefully and trying to cut wherever possible, but if fuel prices remain high, it will eventually affect how we run the business," the owner said.
"Coal helps in tandoor cooking, but it takes more time," the owner further added.
The strain is even more acute among street vendors, many of whom operate on thin margins. A vendor in Saket said he had recently expanded his business, moving from a mobile cart to a rented outlet.
"I have a family to feed and more responsibilities now. Earlier, I managed with a moving cart, but after renting the place, expenses increased," he said. "Whenever cylinders were unavailable, I had to buy them at higher rates in the black market. Now even regular supply is too expensive, and if this continues, we may have to shut down," he added.
In Laxmi Nagar, another vendor said they are struggling to keep the business running. "Sometimes we even used domestic cylinders from home when supply ran out because we had to keep the stall running," he said, adding that rising costs leave little choice but to increase prices or bear losses.
On April 1, the rates of commercial LPG cylinders were hiked by Rs 195.50 per cylinder, followed by a Rs 114.5 hike on March 1, taking the total increase over the past three months to Rs 1,303. With the latest revision, a 19 kg commercial LPG cylinder now costs Rs 3,371.5 in Delhi, up from Rs 2,078.5 earlier.
The prices of domestic LPG cylinders used for household cooking have remained unchanged. They were last increased by Rs 60 per 14.2 kg cylinder on March 7 and currently cost Rs 913 in Delhi.
