Kolkata: Kolkata Police have arrested a businessman in connection with the alleged withdrawal of ₹1.5 crore from a joint company account.
He is accused of using his brother’s forged signature to carry out multiple transactions from the company’s joint bank account. Burrabazar police arrested him on Wednesday night. He is expected to be produced before Bankshall Court, where police may seek his custody for further questioning.
The case dates back to November 2023. The complainant and the accused were both directors of SDB Developers Private Limited. The company maintains a joint account at Bank of Baroda’s MG Road branch in Kolkata. Transactions from the account required the signatures of both directors. According to the complaint, the two brothers had an internal dispute, following which the complainant stopped signing company cheques and banking documents from July 2023.
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Despite this, several transactions totalling around ₹1.5 crore were allegedly carried out from the company’s joint account on November 21, 2023. The complainant claimed that he had no knowledge of the transactions and had neither signed nor approved any cheques, payment mandates or other banking documents linked to them.
After learning about the transactions, the complainant approached Bank of Baroda’s MG Road branch and requested an internal investigation into how the payments had been processed without his approval. He also sought to have the account frozen to prevent any further unauthorized transactions. However, he alleged that the bank officials did not provide the expected cooperation.
The bank later showed him a cheque that had reportedly been used to authorize payments to certain recipients. The complainant alleged that his signature on the cheque had been forged. He also suspected that some bank officials may have colluded with the accused to facilitate the transfer of such a large amount. The allegation of collusion is part of the investigation and has not been independently established.
The complainant also questioned the police response in the case. He alleged that the accused had been shown as absconding in police records for a long period despite allegedly being present at his residence or office. He reportedly wrote to the state Chief Minister and the Kolkata Police Commissioner, alleging a delay in taking action.
The complainant further alleged that the accused had political connections and considerable local influence, which he believed contributed to the delay in action. These allegations are also subject to investigation.
With the arrest now made, police are examining bank records, the documents carrying the allegedly forged signature, the cheque used for the disputed transactions and the accounts into which the money was transferred. Investigators are also trying to determine whether any other individuals were involved in processing or facilitating the withdrawal from the joint company account. Further action will depend on the investigation and the questioning of the accused following his court appearance.
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