Fake SBI branch busted in Tamil Nadu, son of ex-employee among three arrested: Report

For about three months, a 'duplicate' branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) was being operated at Panrutti in Tamil Nadu's Cuddalore district. It was only after an SBI customer, who had visited the fake bank branch, discussed it with the manager of an existing one, that the case came to light.

Following this, three people involved in the scam were arrested after officials of SBI filed a complaint with the police, according to a report by Business Standard.

One of the three nabbed in connection with the matter of the duplicate branch is the son of two former employees of SBI. The second accused ran a printing press where all documents and challans were printed, while the third one was involved in making rubber stamps.

When the manager at one of the existing SBI branches in the area took up the matter with the zonal office, he was informed that only two branches of SBI had been set up at Panruti. The fake branch was then visited by SBI officials, who witnessed the entire counterfeit set-up with all necessary infrastructure and systems.

The accused, both of whose parents had been former SBI employees, had applied for his father's post after he passed away about 10 years ago. However, frustrated by the delay in his application, he decided to go ahead and open his own bank, according to an Indian Express report quoting an SBI official. The accused had been visiting the bank and observing its operations from an early age, the report noted.