ED attaches assets worth Rs 4.98 crore in Bengaluru Syndicate Bank branch fraud case

The Enforcement Directorate has attached Rs 4.98 crore worth of assets in a case of fraud in the now-shuttered Syndicate Bank.

The assets have been attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and include jewellery and land among others.

The central agency had taken up a case on the basis of an FIR registered at the Commercial Street police station in Bengaluru. The FIR named Vijay Akkash, Mohammed Musthafa, the-then assistant branch manager of Syndicate Bank’s Uttarahalli branch M D Jairam and others.

According to the ED, the fraud was masterminded by Akkash. He roped in Jairam, Nagaraju, Revenna, Siddagangaiah and others, and opened a fake current account in Syndicate Bank in the name of the Karnataka State Agricultural Marketing Board (KSAMB).

The account was operated by Musthafa, who impesonated an accounts officer in the KSAMB by forging documents such as board resolution, ID card and letterhead. The gang transferred Rs 50 crore to the account.

Musthafa transferred Rs 47.16 crore to the bank accounts of various entities and individuals, from which money was eventually withdrawn to buy jewellery and land, the ED said.