Monday, August 21, 2017

Over 5k bank frauds of Rs29k crore in last fiscal: RTI

Times of India: Nagpur: Monday, August 21, 2017.
Over 5,000 bank frauds worth a whopping Rs29,933 crore came to fore in last fiscal (from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017) in India, an RTI query has revealed.
The reply by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also mentioned that about 480 employees were suspended after their role was established in these frauds, which were all over Rs1 lakh.
RBI refused to specify the number of old notes of Rs500 and Rs1,000 denomination collected during demonetization period from November 9 to December 31, stating that "the figures are still under reconciliation".
It also failed to inform about number and amount of Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency deposited with district cooperative banks in Maharashtra. The top bank didn't inform about the number of forged notes collected during demonetization period, citing the reason that "notes are being processed".
The query by senior RTI activist Abhay Kolarkar disclosed that about 25 scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) and 95 urban cooperative banks (UCBs) were into losses ranging from few lakh rupees to crores in last financial year. Among the commercial banks which recorded most losses, the Indian Overseas Bank leads the chart with net loss of Rs2,770 crores followed by Central Bank of India at Rs1,847 crores and IDBI Bank at Rs1,958 crore. The Bank of Nova Scotia and Doha Bank are at bottom with net losses of Rs6 crore and Rs1 crore respectively. Collectively, these 25 commercial banks account for losses of Rs17,357 crore.
Interestingly, the list also figures five associates of Bhartiya Mahila Bank (BMB) which would be merged with the banking behemoth State Bank of India (SBI). They included—State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Travancore (SBT), State Bank of Patiala (SBP), and State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH). All these five associates are facing massive losses led by SBT with Rs1,398 crore.
On other hand, about 95 of total 1,574 cooperative banks, collectively accounts for losses to the tune of 30,27,713 crore.
Kolarkar also asked about penalties imposed on the banks for not complying with Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, but the RBI's central public information officer (CPIO) P Vijaya Kumar replied that information would be available on the bank's website. It was mentioned there that the RBI found huge cash withdrawals from certain accounts took place.