Two Men, Including Bank Manager Arrested by CBI for Rs 183 Cr Fake Bank Guarantee Scam

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two individuals in Madhya Pradesh for their engagement in a Rs 183 crore fake bank guarantee submission fraud to award several irrigation projects in the state.

One of the two arrested individuals has been identified as Govind Chandra Hansda, a senior manager in Punjab National Bank. The other arrested person is Mohammed Firoz Khan from Kolkata. These two were arrested after CBI carried out raids on June 19 and 20, across 23 locations in New Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Jharkhand. The arrested accused are presented in the local court in Kolkata and will soon be brought to Indore on transit remand.

The CBI stated that the investigation has revealed the involvement of a Kolkata-based syndicate that was “systematically fabricating and circulating fake bank guarantees” to get government contracts across states.

As per the CBI statement, the arrests revealed an interstate gang that helped companies to receive fake bank guarantees to secure government projects in several states. The CBI began its investigation after registering three different cases on May 9, on getting instructions from the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the statement added.

According to CBI, Teerth Gopicon Ltd., a company in Indore, secured three irrigation projects worth Rs 974 crore by Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam Limited (MPJNL) in 2023. Therefore, to protect and support these contracts, the company submitted eight fake bank guarantees totalling Rs 183.21 crore. The Madhya Pradesh High Court handed this investigation to the CBI.

The MPJNL received fake email confirmations at initial verification, which looked like they were sent from PNB’s official domain and it awarded contracts to the company based on these email confirmations, the CBI added.

The investigation is still continuing.