Chennai: “This is the first time we are coming across such a method of committing the fraud in which crores of rupees had vanished into thin air,” said an investigation official.

Once the Port Trust decided to deposit Rs 100 crore in a bank which gives maximum interest, the gang got wind of it. It readied a letter from an official in Indian Bank, Koyambedu saying the branch was ready to give 0.1 per cent extra interest. The gang, posing as agent canvassing deposit, then got in touch with Port Trust officials with the offer and the money was transferred to an account created by the agent who posed as Port Trust official. The money was then transferred to a fixed deposit (FD) account and the agent submitted a fake FD certificate to the Port Trust to match with 0.1 per cent extra interest promise.

Then the fraudster liquidated the FD, transferred the money to his account and started withdrawing it in large quantities. Only after nearly Rs 50 crore was withdrawn, senior officials in the bank noticed the development. Meanwhile, the senior Port Trust officials also noticed that they were not getting the interest.

This is when a team of bank officials caught a person who came to withdraw a large amount at Koyambedu branch and handed him over to police. The money left in the fraudster’s account was frozen and the case handed over to CBI.