The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered an FIR in connection with Rs 820 crore worth of suspicious Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) transactions in UCO Bank in November this year and searched 13 locations across multiple cities in the country.
According to officials, the search operations were conducted on Monday and continued till late night. It covered Kolkata and Mangalore, they added.
UCO Bank issues statement
In a statement, the agency spokesperson said that the CBI's action followed the filing of a formal complaint (FIR) by UCO Bank against two of its support engineers as well as other unidentified individuals. It alleged suspicious IMPS transactions amounting to approximately Rs 820 crore, he added.
During the searches, electronic evidence, including mobile phones, laptops, computer systems, email archives and debit/credit cards, were recovered, he said.
"It was alleged that between 10th November 2023 and 13th November 2023, IMPS inward transactions originating from 14000 account holders across seven private banks were directed to 41000 account holders within UCO Bank through the IMPS channel," the agency spokesperson added.
The UCO Bank has recovered Rs 649 crore or 79 per cent of the amount erroneously credited to some accounts of the bank via Immediate Payment Service. By taking various proactive steps, the bank blocked the recipients' accounts and has been able to recover Rs 649 crore out of Rs 820 crore which is about 79 per cent of the amount, UCO Bank said in a regulatory filing.
What is IMPS?
It is to be noted that the IMPS platform is operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). IMPS is a real-time interbank electronic funds transfer system that happens straight without intervention.
(With PTI inputs)
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