Shillong(Meghalaya), Feb 17: A case of alleged misappropriation of money has come to light in the Meghalaya Rural Bank (MRB) wherein Rs 55 lakh was never deposited in a customer’s account.
According to sources, a customer had opened a fixed deposit of Rs 55 lakh at the MRB Nongpyndeng Branch, West Khasi Hills district in 2015 and was expecting to withdraw Rs 77 lakh this year with this plan reaching maturity.
However, when he approached the bank, he found out that this amount was never deposited in 2015.
Meanwhile, the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) A K Brahma who is stationed at the bank’s head office in Shillong has confirmed that the MRB Nongpyndeng Branch has informed the head office about this issue.
Brahma said that the office will first hold an internal investigation into the matter before deciding on the future course of action.
“Now at this preliminary stage we are conducting the investigation. Until the investigation is concluded we cannot say what happened. As of now the investigation (internal) is going on and once it is completed we will proceed with whatever is required,” he said.
He also said that if the investigation reveals that it is a criminal case, the matter will be reported to the police.
Brahma also said that the office would not be able to pinpoint the exact amount allegedly misappropriated until the investigation is completed.
The CVO also said that the Internal Advisory Committee which will conduct the investigation will probe if the alleged misappropriation was done intentionally or if it was a mistake.
“Without proper investigation, the innocent may be harassed,” Brahma said.
It may be noted here that last year, the general manager of MRB had filed a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) citing fraudulent loan disbursements to nearly 150 clients by the then bank manager at Iewduh branch involving Rs 14.34 crore.
At that time, the CVO revealed that there were serious acts of commission and omission on the part of the then branch manager in collusion with private borrowers while sanctioning and disbursement of cash credits, housing loans, general credit card, small business term loan, small business cash credit and small business finance cash credits.
The CVO also furnished the list of 114 borrowers’ accounts amounting to over Rs 14.33 crore which were later declared Non Performing Assets (NPA) causing wrongful loss to the MRB.
By special arrangement with Highland Post
