Charminar Bank never received Rs 38 crore it had deposited in the scam-tainted Krushi Cooperative Bank

2002
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Dec 1: Charminar Bank never received Rs 38 crore it had deposited in the scam-tainted Krushi Cooperative Bank. It was only in the books of account that the deposits were withdrawn and encashed.
In a startling revelation, the auditors of Charminar Bank noted that the "transaction raises high suspicion about the genuineness of the receipts of cash and also their disbursement as loans".
The Charminar Bank simply made book adjustments showing that the Krushi Bank had repaid the cash deposit after it came to know that the Krushi Bank might collapse any moment under the impact of large-scale financial irregularities. The Charminar authorities, fearing that their murky financial dealings would be out once the Krushi Bank collapsed, made hurried entries in their records to show that Krushi had returned the deposit in instalments. But in reality Krushi Bank never repaid the money to Charminar. This simply means that the size of the scam in the Krushi Bank is Rs 73 crore and not just Rs 35 crore which the investigating authorities believe.
The murky dealings in the Charminar Bank came to light in the audit report carried out by chartered accountants Prema Gopal and Company. Charminar Bank has deposited with Krushi Bank in the form of fixed deposit Rs 38 crore on July 29, 1998 and reportedly withdrew it in phases between March and August 2001. The Bank collapsed in mid-August 2001.
The State government has ordered an inquiry into the entire transaction between Charminar and Krushi Bank. Hyderabad district cooperative officer has been asked to submit report on the murky dealings. According to Charminar Bank managing director V Prabhakar, "the truth will come out when the DCO gives his report. We will initiate action accordingly".
The audit reports says, "entries were passed in the books of the Charminar Bank as if cash has been received from Krushi Bank by a particular branch on a particular day. these branches transferred the same amount on the same day to Purani Haveli branch. Again the same day the same amount was transferred to different branch/branches by Purani Haveli branch and those amounts were shown as given to different parties the same day as loans. The series of transactions, particularly in some cases with different denominations recorded in the books of different branches for the same amount on the same dates raises high suspicion about the genuineness of the receipts of cash and also their disbursement as loans".
According to the audit report cash was deposited by Krushi Bank in Purani Haveli branch without there being any account with the branch. Even the current account in the James Street branch was opened on March 27 a few days after the payment was said to have been made.
The cooperative department is eagerly awaiting the arrest of Krushi chief K Venkateswara Rao, whose interrogation will bring the truth behind the Charminar-Krushi transactions.