SBI transfers Rs 6 lakhs defrauded via cloned cheques back to the Ram Mandir Trust

The development comes a day after the Ram Mandir Trust had written a letter to the SBI, asking for a refund of the amount.

The Ram Mandir Trust, Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, today took to Twitter to express their gratitude to the SBI management for refunding the amount of Rs 6 lakhs, which was fraudulently withdrawn from its account via cloned cheques.

“The amount of 6 lakh rupees which was fraudulently transferred from the bank account of Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra using fake cheques & signatures, has been duly returned to Trust’s account by SBI. Our gratitude to SBI management for their swift action. Jai Shri Ram!” the Twitter account of the Ram Mandir Trust tweeted.

The development comes a day after the Ram Mandir Trust had written a letter to the SBI, asking for a refund of the amount. Champat Rai, the General Secretary of the trust, had asked the SBI to return the amount, citing the bank’s mistake to have made the payment for the cloned cheque from Punjab National Bank.

Following the episode, the trust had also decided to stop making payments via cheque. The trust is mulling over an alternate method of payment in a secure manner and is in consultation with the SBI Bank over the same.

Cloned cheques used by fraudster to withdraw Rs 6 lakhs from the Ram Mandir Trust’s bank account

Earlier this month, the Ram Temple Trust had filed an FIR with the police after fraudulent attempts to withdraw money from two bank accounts of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust came to the fore. The Fraudster managed to withdraw Rs. 6 lakh from the accounts using two bogus cheques on 1st and 3rd September. When the third cheque arrived for clearance, the bank officials called Trust Secretary Champat Rai for confirmation. Rai informed the bank that the trust had not issued anyone any cheque of that amount.

After that, the trust filed an FIR with Ayodhya Police against the fraudulent cheque. During the investigation, police found that two transactions were done using the same method. The first transaction took place on 1st September, in which Rs 2.5 lakh was withdrawn. In the second transaction on 3rd September, Rs 3.5 lakh was withdrawn. The third cheque was of Rs 9.86 lakh, which was stopped by the bank on Trust Secretary Champat Rai’s request.