Bantwal: A complaint has been filed in the town police station here regarding a fraudulent withdrawal of a large amount from a bank account.
On Nov 21, 2014, a young man had brought to the town branch of Canara Bank a cheque for Rs 4 lakh carrying the signature of Thoman Fernandes for cash payment. He is said to have convinced the bank staff that he was indeed Thomas Fernandes, while he was not.
The cheating act came to light when Thomas Fernandes found Rs 4 lakh debited to his account. The CCTV cameras at the bank have captured the youth’s movements inside the bank.
The police have released the image to the mediapersons. They have requested those who can identify him to call the police control room, Bantwal town police or Bantwal circle police inspector.
The episode has raised several suspicions.
1. While the signature could have been genuine, how the account-holder did not come to know, if the cheque was lost or stolen, for three months. The payment of the cheque could have been stopped in that case.
2. Even if the fraudster had claimed to be Thomas Fernandes, his ID details had to be recorded on the cheque since the amount was quite large.
3. All major banks now have the online system of verifying the photograph of the account-holder on the computer screen. How it was missed is to be investigated.
There appears to have been negligence from both sides, say the bank customers.