Tripura Police Investigate Rs 16 Crore Fraud at Agartala Municipal Corporation

Agartala: Tripura Police have launched a thorough investigation into a massive financial fraud involving over Rs 16 crore siphoned from the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) account at UCO Bank.

Despite complaints being lodged, no arrests have been made within the first 24 hours. Initial findings suggest potential involvement of bank employees, leading to heightened surveillance of officials from both UCO Bank and AMC.The scam, uncovered on Thursday, involved the use of cloned cheques to siphon funds from AMC’s UCO Bank account between Aug 5 and Sept 2. UCO Bank filed an FIR at the West Agartala Police Station, detailing fraudulent RTGS transactions totaling Rs 16,38,43,300.

The FIR, submitted by UCO Bank’s Zonal Head Sanjib Roy, names several unknown individuals.Preliminary investigations revealed the use of at least six forged cheques, featuring authentic-looking signatures, presented by an individual impersonating an AMC representative. These cheques used genuine AMC cheque numbers, indicating they were never legitimately issued. The fraudulent cheques facilitated RTGS transfers to various accounts across different states.

Significant withdrawals included Rs 1.98 crore by Ganesh Enterprise and Rs 2.17 crore by Shree Sai Balaji Associates Pvt Ltd on August 5, among others. AMC officials confirmed the cheque numbers remain untouched in their records, suggesting deliberate cloning.Bank footage reportedly shows an unidentified man entering the branch multiple times, claiming to represent AMC while submitting the forged cheques.

Investigators suspect a deeper connection between insiders at both AMC and UCO Bank. Concerns have been raised about how fraudsters acquired the specimen signatures of AMC’s CEO, flawlessly replicated on the counterfeit cheques.UCO Bank has managed to freeze one account to prevent further withdrawals, but approximately Rs 14 crore is believed to have been diverted to various companies, with the ringleaders reportedly operating from outside the state. AMC had previously informed UCO Bank that no RTGS transactions were authorized on the relevant dates. The police assure that the investigation is progressing well, with several suspects already questioned, and express optimism about recovering the funds.