CBI files two FIRs against SBM officials in currency exchange racket

The CBI has registered two separate cases against State Bank of Mysore officials for alleged illegal exchange of scrapped currency notes worth Rs 2.88 crore with new ones.

The first case has been registered on the basis of a complaint by deputy general manager of SBM alleging that head cashier B Dinesh posted at currency chest branch, Periyapatna, Mysuru, and Manoj Kumar, a pawnbroker, entered into a criminal conspiracy to exchange the notes.

The CBI has alleged in the FIR that between November 10 and November 23 last year, Dinesh manipulated the actual deposit slips submitted by genuine customers and altered the figures written by them.

The currency notes thus exchanged were allegedly passed on to Kumar, a gold jeweller and pawnbroker.

In the second case, the CBI booked head cashier of SBM, Raghuveera Bhat; temporary attender, Babu; and a deceased employee, for alleged illegal exchange of old currency.

It is alleged that Bhat had taken out notes in the denominations of Rs 50 and Rs 100 worth Rs 50 lakh from the currency chest and replaced them with demonetised currency notes of the same value on November 9, 2016, when banks were closed.

The FIR also alleged that the deceased employee, a head cashier posted at Currency Management Branch in Bengaluru, committed irregularities in cash remittance worth Rs 20 lakh, sources said.
PTI