Missing Rs 10 cr: Police to seek forensic help

The police will seek the help of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to unravel the mystery involving the alleged misappropriation of Rs 10 crore kept as Fixed Deposit (FD) by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) with the State Bank of Mysore (SBM).

The KSPCB and the SBM have been blaming each other for the fraud.

“We are procuring the original documents. We will send them to FSL for examination of signatures. The truth will be out after the FSL submits the report,” said the Upparpet police inspector.

He said it would take some time for the police to obtain the original documents.

The police questioned a few top officers of the SBM and collected vital information.

A fraud of Rs 10 crore would not have happened without the involvement of insiders from both the organisations.

It is still not clear if the SBM insiders were fully responsible for the scandal, a senior police officer said.

The KSPCB lodged a complaint with the Upparpet police on May 29 that it had deposited Rs 10 crore as FD with the SBM in May 2013 which was to mature in May 2014.

Fake documents were created and signatures were forged to establish that the KSPCB availed a loan of Rs 9 crore against the Rs 10 crore deposit.

“The SBM’s claims are totally false and fictitious. The KSPCB is worth around Rs 900 crore and it transacts Rs 9 crore a week. This being the fact, there is no question of the KSPCB raising a huge loan against its own FD,” a KSPCB top representative said.

The SBM claimed it had appropriated the maturity proceeds to the loan outstanding. It remitted the balance to the Pollution Control Board as per extant norms.

The bank followed the requisite procedure. The copies of the loan documents were given to the Board.

The matter was entrusted for internal investigation to a senior official of the bank. The documents were also given to the police for investigation, it said.