Chennai Port Trust scam: Nine held by CBI for trying to swindle over Rs 100 cr

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested nine people for allegedly swindling Rs 100 crore in a scam involving the fixed deposits of Chennai Port Trust (CPT), officials said on Tuesday. The deposits were made at an Indian Bank branch in Chennai. The investigative agency had started the probe on July 31, 2020, against bank officials, private persons and other unidentified people on the suspicion that fixed deposits of CPT worth over Rs 100.57 crore maintained at the bank were being foreclosed, transferred to different accounts and withdrawn.

The CBI on Monday night, arrested nine people identified as Ganesh Natarajan, V Manimozhi, J Selvakumar, K Zakir Hussain, M Vijay Heralld, M Rajesh Singh, S Siyadh, S Afsar and V Sudalaimuthu. Chennai Port Trust regularly invested in fixed deposits for which it had open tenders. The Koyambedu Branch of Indian Bank had won the tender. The CBI said that after the accused created deposits at the bank, Natarajan approached them introducing himself as the Deputy Director (Finance) of Chennai Port Trust, where he opened a fake current account in the name of CPT at the branch using forged documents.

After the receipt of investment from CPT on each occasion, the bank issued fixed deposit receipts or bonds against the said investment. The bonds were received by the accused (Natarajan) from the bank directly. Instead of delivering the original bond to CPT, the accused made duplicate bonds which he submitted to CPT.

The accused allegedly used the original bonds to pre-close the deposits within days of their creation. The amount was then transferred to fake accounts in the name CPT in the same bank. The amount was subsequently transferred to 28 different accounts, which was withdrawn by the account holders and handed over to the accused persons. In that process, approximately Rs 100.57 crore was transferred from CPT in five investments against which 45 deposits of varying amounts were created. Out of the total amount invested, Rs 55.19 crore was detected and frozen by the CBI. The Indian Bank suffered a loss of Rs 45.40 crore. Sources in the agency said that Natrajan invested the siphoned off amounts in properties and a money lending business.

The agency had carried out searches at 22 locations, including at Chennai, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Nagercoil, which led to the recovery of several incriminating documents and material objects. Out of the nine arrested accused, eight were produced before a special judge for CBI cases in Chennai and remanded to judicial custody. The one other accused, arrested from Tirunelveli, was taken on transit remand.

Inputs from PTI