CBI Raids 67 Locations In UCO Bank IMPS Scam Investigation

Officials said that the searches conducted in Rajasthan and Maharashtra on Wednesday targeted individuals who received the funds and withdrew them without returning them to the bank

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at 67 sites across seven cities in Rajasthan and Maharashtra on Wednesday in connection with the Rs 820-crore IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) Transaction scam involving UCO Bank, according to officials, reported the news agency PTI. The case involves over 8,53,049 IMPS transactions that occurred between November 10 and November 13 last year within the bank.

"IMPS inward transactions initiated from around 14,600 account holders of seven private banks were wrongfully posted in the accounts of over 41,000 UCO Bank account holders. This resulted in Rs. 820 crore being credited to UCO Bank accounts without actual debiting from the originating banks," the CBI Spokesperson told PTI on Thursday.

According to the report, officials said that the searches conducted in Rajasthan and Maharashtra on Wednesday targeted individuals who received the funds and withdrew them without returning them to the bank. This marks the second phase of search operations in connection with the case.

"Earlier in December 2023, searches were conducted at 13 locations involving private individuals and UCO Bank officials in Kolkata and Mangalore," the Spokesperson said, states in the report.

More than 330 police personnel, including 120 from the Rajasthan Police, formed 40 teams along with 80 independent witnesses to carry out an extensive search operation across various cities, including Jodhpur, Jaipur, Jalore, Nagaur, Barmer, Phalodi in Rajasthan, and Pune in Maharashtra.

"During these operations, approximately 130 incriminating documents related to UCO Bank and IDFC, as well as 43 digital devices (including 40 mobile phones, 2 hard disks, and 1 internet dongle) were seized for forensic analysis. Additionally, 30 suspects were also found and examined on the spot," the spokesperson told PTI.

On November 15 last year, UCO Bank announced that it had experienced technical issues resulting in erroneous credits to some accounts. “It is clarified that the transactions observed by bank were due to internal technical issue as a result of which account holders of our bank have received some erroneous via IMPS. We wish to clarify that there was no issue with the IMPS platform," said the bank.