Rs 99 lakh scholarship scam in MP, college staff and bank officials booked
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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against a former UCO Bank manager and five officials of a private management college in Bhopal for siphoning off nearly Rs 99.48 lakh in government scholarships meant for MBA students.
They are accused of opening bank accounts without students' knowledge, according to a report by The Indian Express.
The case relates to the Academy of Management College, a private business school in Bhopal affiliated with Barkatullah University and approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
The FIR was registered after a preliminary enquiry initiated on the basis of a complaint by Lokesh Kumar, Deputy General Manager and Zonal Head of UCO Bank, Bhopal. The enquiry found that 118 bank accounts were opened at the bank's Habibganj branch between January 2020 and October 2021 in the names of MBA students without their knowledge or consent.
According to the CBI, government scholarship amounts worth Rs 99.48 lakh were credited into these accounts and withdrawn before the beneficiaries could access the funds.
The accused include Prema Verma, then Senior Manager of UCO Bank's Habibganj branch, Vinay Malhotra, director of the Academy of Management College, professor Aditya Malhotra, assistant professors Manoj Jain and Vinesh Meshram, and college employee Ram Singh Verma. The FIR also names unknown persons.
Investigators alleged that college officials arranged for the accounts to be opened, linked their own or associates' mobile numbers to them, collected the ATM cards, and withdrew the scholarship amounts. The FIR also alleged that account-opening forms contained forged signatures and false personal details. Mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures were bypassed. Fabricated documents, including bona fide certificates, were used to open the accounts.
The CBI further alleged that debit cards were issued to a single individual without authorisation from the account holders and that mobile numbers linked to the accounts enabled the accused to receive one-time passwords for withdrawals.
According to the agency, the then bank manager facilitated the opening and operation of the accounts despite being responsible for ensuring compliance with banking norms.
The CBI has invoked charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, using forged documents, and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The investigation, being conducted by the CBI's Anti-Corruption Branch in Bhopal, will examine whether others were involved and whether similar practices were followed in other accounts.
