CBI probing Rs 5-crore fraud in Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation
New Delhi: The CBI has started an investigation into alleged embezzlement of Rs 5 crore in Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation (KSHDC) in connivance with an official of the State Bank of India, officials said Monday.
The CBI has registered the FIR on a complaint from the chief manager of SBI alleging that an assistant manager had opened a current account number -- 7828879815 -- of KSHDC, on its application, at Hesarghatta Road Branch.
The complaint alleged that Sateesh V Vambhashe, the then assistant manager at the bank, fraudulently opened one more account in the name of KSHDC 37830657832 under the same Customer Information File without any authorization from the KSHDC to facilitate the illegal transfer of funds.
On July 26, 2018, an inward remittance of Rs 5.01 crore came to the authentic KSHDC account from Canara Bank which was fraudulently transferred to the similar account created by Vambhashe, it alleged.
An amount of Rs 25 lakh was further transferred into a fixed deposit while the balance was transferred in 12 transactions over two months to accounts of Velohar Infra Pvt Ltd and Venture Cottage Industrial Trade Company based on purported cheques issued by KSHDC signed by their Assistant (Finance), it alleged.
The manager fraudulently issued a letter to KSHDC that fixed deposit receipt was verified and genuine and maturity amount of over Rs 5.37 crore would be paid back to them whereas in the core banking system of the bank the FD was issued for only Rs 25 lakh.
"Sateesh Vambhashe has allegedly committed falsification of accounts and colluded with KSHDC officials to unauthorisedly divert funds to the tune of Rs 4.76 crore by transferring through RTGS to different suspicious accounts," the FIR alleged.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
