Foreign nationals held for Port Trust bank fraud

CHENNAI: A man from Congo and another from Cameroon, who came to Chennai on student visas, were arrested by the CBI in connection with the probe into a bank fraud in which more than Rs 45 crore was swindled from the fixed deposits of the Chennai Port Trust in April 2020.

The arrested persons were identified as Boussiomo Steve Bertrand Yannick of Cameroon and Musasa Ilunga Lucien of Congo.

Officials searched the suspects’ premises in Ramapuram and found that they were not in possession of original passports. During the searches, laptop, mobile phones, camera, printer and some documents, including those related to Kamarajar Port Trust, Chennai Port Trust, bank fixed deposits, and logos of different government organisations were found, the CBI said in a press statement on Tuesday.

The agency had already arrested nine persons in connection with the elaborate bank fraud in which Rs 45 crore was emptied from the bank account of Chennai Port Trust during the beginning of COVID pandemic last year. This was done in the guise of pre-closing fixed deposits of Rs 100 crore.

The CBI alleged that the accused persons committed fraud, forgery and impersonation with the intention to cheat the bank to the tune of Rs 100.57 crore. By foreclosing/pre-closing several term deposits (fixed deposits) created in the name of Chennai Port Trust and also transferring/withdrawing the amount through various accounts, etc., a loss to the tune of Rs 45.40 crore was caused to the Indian Bank, the CBI statement added.