PNB manager Amit Kumar arrested by NIA in ₹17.29cr scam
Amit Kumar, a bank employee serving as a PNB manager and a joint custodian of the currency chest at the relevant time, has been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his alleged role in a massive ₹17.29 crore fake currency scam.
He was caught in Chandigarh on September 7 after being on the run.
The case started when fake notes were found at a PNB currency chest in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
Audit finds 148 counterfeit ₹500 bundles
The whole thing unraveled during the subsequent audit last month. Staff noticed cash was missing from money sent from PNB's Saharanpur branch to the RBI currency chest in Jaipur.
Digging deeper, auditors found 148 bundles of counterfeit ₹500 notes: what looked like ₹7.4 crore at first turned out to be over twice that amount.
CCTV even showed a part-time housekeeper tampering with cash. Now, the NIA is trying to track down more people involved and figure out where all these fake notes came from.