The Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies has ordered a probe into a fake fixed deposit receipt racket by a section of officials at the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Society (PACCS) at Sathyamangalam near Gingee in Villupuram district.
The total value of the fake receipts amounted to ₹4 crore.
According to an official, the fraud came to light following complaints from customers.
A few employees in the PACCS at Sathyamangalam, including a staffer, had allegedly forged fake FD receipts and swindled funds of customers. The accused, Sadiq Basha, who served as secretary of the society, died in May.
Preliminary investigation by a team of officials led by Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies Guruswamy on Monday revealed that Basha was the mastermind behind the fraud.
“Basha had forged the receipts in collusion with a few others in the society. The fraud came to light only after his death,” sources in the credit society said.
The fake receipts were issued against the names of customers who had opened deposits in the bank.
Sources said that Basha had sufficient knowledge about the bank dealings and had furnished the fake receipts and other documents.
The fixed deposits in the range of ₹35,000 to ₹1 lakh were not recorded in the bank’s register and the group allegedly siphoned off the amount to the tune of ₹4 crore.
The authorities had also failed to check the genuineness of the receipts while the amount of customers was transferred.
An official in the Cooperative Department said that a probe had been ordered against the members who had affixed their signatures on the fake receipts. The report will be submitted to the government for further action, he said.