Bhopal college director, professors, bank officials booked for siphoning off scholarship money

New Delhi, Jul 13 (PTI) The CBI has booked seven persons, including officials of the Academy of Management College, Bhopal, and UCO Bank, for allegedly colluding to siphon off government scholarships for MBA students by opening 118 forged bank accounts. The probe agency has registered an FIR against the Senior Branch Manager of UCO Bank, Prema Verma, Director of the College Vinay Malhotra, his brother Aditya Malhotra, Assistant Professors Manoj Jain and Vinesh Meshram and an employee of the college, Ram Singh Verma, they said. "...118 savings bank accounts were opened in the names of MBA students of Academy of Management College, Bhopal, MP, without their knowledge and consent, and thereafter, the scholarship amount granted by the Government (Rs 99.48 lakh) was credited into these bank accounts, which were dishonestly and fraudulently misappropriated by the accused," the FIR alleged. The CBI alleged that the accounts were opened using "forged signatures and false particulars without mandatory KYC verification" in 2020-21. The FIR alleged that "bonafide certificates", purportedly issued by the Bhopal-based college, were used as supporting documents and were found to be fabricated upon scrutiny. "ATM/debit cards were issued and delivered to a single person, namely Ram Singh, without written authorisation from the actual account holders. "Mobile numbers belonging to accused college authorities and their associates were fraudulently linked to students' accounts, enabling the receipt of OTPs and the immediate withdrawal of the scholarship amount on the same day of credit," the FIR alleged. The FIR alleged the then Senior Manager, Habibganj Branch, UCO Bank, Prema Verma, entrusted with account opening, KYC compliance, system verification and ATM issuance, "actively processed accounts" in gross violation of established banking norms, in "criminal connivance" with the college authorities. In a separate case, the CBI has booked three private persons for allegedly cheating The New India Assurance Company Ltd., Bhopal, by siphoning off Rs. 4.30 crore in 411 bogus insurance claims under Motor Own Damage between 2021 and 2024. The FIR has booked Avdesh Parmar, Shailendra Singh Parmar, and Manraj Prajapati, all from Gwalior, for allegedly defrauding the insurance major. The agency alleged that claims amounting to Rs 4.30 crore were fraudulently lodged and settled for the same vehicles, in collusion with vehicle owners, drivers, garage owners, surveyors, spare parts shop owners and unknown public servants. The FIR said that multiple claims were settled using the same photographs and damaged parts that had been submitted in previous claims, with repetitive patterns emerging across several claims. In some instances, the vehicle repair photographs pertained to a different garage, while the supporting repair bills were issued by another garage, indicating discrepancies in the claim documents. Additionally, claim proceeds were credited to bank accounts other than those of the insured, allegedly by submitting forged cheque leaves to facilitate unauthorised payments. PTI ABS RT