Mangalore: Personnel engaged to load cash into ATMs swindle Rs 48.5 lac

Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, May 7: It has come to light that a few personnel engaged by the concern hired by banks for loading cash into their ATMs, defrauded their employers by withdrawing money from the ATMs at night.

The sum they had illegally drawn by using secret locks, amounts to a whopping Rs 48.5 lac. Their operation went on undetected for the past ten months.

Based on a complaint filed by them, the police of Bunder station in the city arrested two persons, Gautam, and Anil Raj, both from Mangaladevi in the city, on Monday May 6. Both of them are employees of Bangalore-based Global Management Company, which was hired by ICICI Bank to replenish their ATMs on a day-to-day basis.

The concern has its head office at Mumbai, from where the local branch gets instructions about amounts to be loaded into individual ATMs. On the basis of these instructions, the bank delivers to them the total amount required, and the personnel visit each of the ATMs and replenish cash as per the list. ICICI Bank, which has about 15 ATMs in the city, had entrusted the work to Global Management Company ten months back, it is learnt.

The modus operandi of the thieves was to visit unguarded ATMs at night, disable closed circuit TV cameras in the ATMs, open the ATMs with the help of the secret locks in their possession, and withdraw cash in Rs 500 denomination.

The bank as well as the concern, during the audit, found out that there was mismatch in the cash held in the ATMs and the amount as per books of accounts. Therefore, they undertook a detailed scrutiny, upon which the above fraud came to light. The bank thereafter filed a case of fraud against the accused. The police, who arrested the two, have registered a case against them.