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New Delhi: Prominent Trinamool Congress leader in West Bengal and a four-time Lok Sabha MP, Kalyan Banerjee, has lost over Rs 55 lakh to a scam, according to reports.
The incident took place as someone reactivated his dormant State Bank of India (SBI) account using fake documents. The SBI High Court Branch in Kolkata has filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Police Station.
The complaint states that the cybercriminal used a fake PAN card, Aadhaar card, a morphed photograph, and updated the KYC details of the TMC leader's old account. Following that, the scammer, on October 28, replaced the registered mobile number. The scammer took control of the account and siphoned off around Rs 56,39,767 through internet banking.
The person moved the stolen amount across several beneficiary accounts. The money was withdrawn from ATMs and even used to buy jewellery. According to a report by Moneycontrol, Kolkata Police Cyber Crime division's senior officer said, “The entire matter is being investigated thoroughly. We are examining the bank’s internal processes and contacting officials to determine how the account was accessed. Efforts are being made to track the fraudsters and the destination of the funds."
The dormant account was reportedly opened when Banerjee was a TMC MLA from Asansol (Dakshin) between 2001 and 2006, and his salary was deposited there. It was recently reactivated by the scammers for the above-mentioned crime. Banerjee came to know about the fraud after noticing a suspicious transaction, and he alerted the bank after realizing the scam. The cybercrime department of the police is probing the incident.
