CBI registers 2 FIRS in illegal exchange of scrapped notes

NEW DELHI: The CBI has registered two separate cases against State Bank of Mysore officials for alleged illegal exchange of scrapped currency notes worth Rs 2.88 crore with new ones.

The first case has been registered on the basis of a complaint by Deputy General Manager of the State Bank of Mysore alleging that head cashier B Dinesh posted at currency chest branch, Periyapatna, Mysore, and Manoj Kumar, a pawn broker, entered into a criminal conspiracy to exchange the notes.

It is alleged that Dinesh entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kumar and other private persons in exchanging notes to the tune of Rs 2.18 crore in violation Reserve Bank of India norms.

Notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 ceased to be legal tender on November 8, 2016, after announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The scrapped notes could be exchanged with the new ones at banks only in accordance with RBI guidelines.

The CBI has alleged in the FIR that between November 10 and November 23 last year, Dinesh manipulated the actual deposit slips submitted by genuine customers and altered the figures written by them.

Notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 ceased to be legal tender on November 8, 2016, after announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The currency notes thus exchanged were allegedly passed on to Kumar, a gold jeweller and pawn broker.

The agency had received a complaint from the Deputy General Manager of the bank on the basis of which it has registered an FIR for criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, falsification of accounts among others.

In the second case, the CBI has booked Head Cashier of State Bank of Mysore, Raghuveera Bhat; Temporary Attender, Babu; and a deceased employee for allegedly exchanging old currency notes in violation of norms.

It is alleged that Bhat had taken out notes in the denomination of Rs 50 and Rs 100 from currency chest worth Rs 50 lakh and replaced them with demonetised currency notes of the same value on November 9, 2016, when banks were closed.

The FIR also alleged that the deceased employee, a Head Cashier posted at Currency Management Branch in Bengaluru, committed irregularities in cash remittance worth Rs 20 lakh, sources said.

It alleged that the employee fraudulently and dishonestly exchanged demonetised currency notes to the tune of Rs 20 lakh.