Bihar: Clerk booked for Rs 7 lakh corona relief fund fraud

PATNA: At a time when the state machinery is fighting Covid-19 pandemic, the nazir (accounts clerk) of Narhat block in Nawada district was allegedly busy committing fraud by forging cheques and withdrawing excess amount from the corona relief fund. This is the first case of embezzlement of the corona relief fund in the state.
Narhat block development officer (BDO) Rajmiti Paswan on Saturday lodged an FIR against nazir Ghanshyam Prasad, accusing him of siphoning of Rs7 lakh through fraudulent means.
Narhat police station SHO Navin Kumar Sinha said on Sunday the accused allegedly tampered with the cheques signed by the BDO on different dates and withdrew the excess amount from the banks concerned.
Explaining the modus operandi, the BDO said, “He (nazir) used to prefix a huge amount on cheques bearing the official signature of the account holder and withdrew cash from the banks where the department has its accounts. It happened on several occasions but the bank never intimated me.”
The amount was withdrawn from the main branch of Punjab National Bank, Nawada and Dakshin Bihar Gramin Bank, Sheikhpura. The fraud came to light when the BDO received a call on May 5 soon after the nazir presented a cheque for Rs2.50 lakh. “I asked the bank official to stop payment,” Paswan said.
Subsequently, the transactions in the two bank accounts from October 2019 to May 2020 were verified and Rs7 lakh excess amount was found withdrawn during the lockdown period, the BDO said over phone.
A show-cause notice was issued to Prasad, a resident of Gambhir village under Warisaliganj block in Nawada district. However, he didn’t reply and proceeded on leave without prior approval from the authority concerned. The SHO said Prasad was booked under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust by any public servant or banker) and 420 (cheating) of IPC.
He said the accused was absconding. A special police team has been set up to arrest him at the earliest.
The role of the banks concerned has also come under scanner. The BDO said the bank is supposed to verify before clearing any payment of more than Rs50,000 from any government account at a time. “But it didn’t happen in this case,” he added.
A retired CBI officer said a similar modus operandi was adopted in the multi-crore Srijan scam in Bhagalpur and its adjoining districts in 2017.
More than 50 Covid-19 cases have been reported from Nawada district so far.