CBI
probes misappropriation of over Rs. 1 cr in HPO
(
News from ' The Hindu' dtd 17/06/2016 )
Sleuths
of Central Bureau of Investigation have launched an enquiry into alleged
misappropriation of public money to the tune of over Rs. 1 crore at the Head
Post Office (HPO) here. The postal department has placed seven employees,
including the prime suspect, a woman, and two Assistant Post Masters, under
suspension.
After
the department officials exposed the fraud in May and referred the case to the
CBI, a seven-member team from the anti-corruption wing visited the HPO on
Tuesday and completed the first phase of investigation on Wednesday. They
verified the records and raided the premises of an agent.
Sources
told The Hindu that the CBI officers had taken some records. The team
questioned the husband of the prime suspect, a businessman, while avoiding questioning
her as she was pregnant, the sources said.
The
CBI officers also raided the premises of Lalitha, who had been a savings
account agent at the HPO for more that two decades and believed to have
collided with the main suspect. The officials seized some money and savings
account passbooks from her premise, the sources said.
As
the post of Superintendent of Post Offices for Karaikudi division was vacant
for about three months, the department deputed the Senior Superintendent of
Post Offices, Virudhunagar, to assist the CBI team for two days, the sources
added.
Investigation
is said to have revealed that the prime suspect and others misused the software
for core banking, kept alive savings bank accounts of five account holders, who
offered to close down them, and showed credit in the accounts, but did not
deposit the amount.
The
head office grew suspicious after a huge amount was “credited” into the
accounts towards interest and verified the accounts when the fraud came to
light. The main suspect, an MCA graduate who had joined the service as Postal
Assistant in 2011, had been committing the fraud since 2014, they said.
She
had committed the fraud after office hours, using the user ID and passwords of
her colleagues who were in CBI net, the sources said. After making fake
deposits into the accounts, she would withdraw the money through her
benamis. Advance bail
Meanwhile,
the prime suspect obtained anticipatory bail from the Madurai Bench of the
Madras High Court, the sources said.
The
Postal department has placed seven employees, including the prime suspect,
under suspicion
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