In a scandal that exposes deep cracks in India’s cooperative banking ecosystem, Surguja district authorities have unearthed a financial fraud worth over ₹28 crore, implicating officials from district cooperative banks, central bank branches, and several other entities across the Kusmi and Shankargarh regions of Chhattisgarh. The scam involved the systematic creation of fake accounts, unauthorized NEFT transactions, and withdrawal of public funds—some of which were meant for farmers and rural schemes.
The fraud was uncovered following a routine audit of bank accounts between 2012 and 2024, revealing unexplained cash movements and multiple layers of manipulation. The police have so far arrested 11 individuals, while FIRs have been lodged against 12, including branch managers and cooperative society heads.
Audit Uncovers Ghost Accounts and Shadow Transactions
The scam was initially flagged by Vilas Bhonsle, a regional cooperative official, who noticed severe discrepancies in the balances of Shankargarh and Kusmi branches. A deeper audit revealed that ₹23 crore had been siphoned off between 2012 and 2024. With ongoing investigations, the total figure has now ballooned to ₹28 crore.
One key method of embezzlement was the creation of fake farmer accounts under cooperative societies. Funds meant for legitimate rural beneficiaries were redirected to these fabricated profiles. The scam also relied heavily on NEFT transfersacross fake accounts and withdrawal patterns that masked the true beneficiaries.
For example, in one instance, an account opened under the name of a cooperative society showed deposits of ₹19.24 lakh and withdrawals totaling ₹1.92 crore. In another, ₹2.82 crore was routed through fake NEFT transfers, with little to no trace of legitimate usage or beneficiaries.
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Accused Spread Across Banking, Tech, and Local Administration
The accused list reads like a directory of regional banking leadership. Among those arrested are:
- Ashok Kumar Soni, branch manager (Shankargarh)
- Vikas Pandey, cooperative supervisor
- Ratanlal Singh, former society head
- Vijay Kumar Soni, Kusmi cooperative head
- Prakash Kumar Singh, IT operator
- Anil Tiwari, linking officer
- Dilip Prasad and Jagjeet Yadav, local bank agents
Investigations revealed that fake KYC documents, unauthorized withdrawal slips, and software-based data entry manipulation were used to facilitate the scheme. Alarmingly, even funds meant for panchayat development and farmers’ relief were funneled into these ghost accounts.
A Trail of Transactions: How the Money Moved
Bank logs show that nearly ₹3.19 crore was transferred from cooperative society accounts to fake individuals, some even created in the names of real beneficiaries without their knowledge. Forensic tracking by local officials found:
- ₹1.36 crore in Ashok Kumar Soni’s account
- ₹30 lakh in the account of Mahamaya Construction
- ₹91.57 lakh withdrawn through unauthorized slips
- Multiple instances of deposits that matched no government record
The sheer coordination and cross-branch collusion point toward an organized financial fraud ring. District Collector and police officials have now intensified the audit and are preparing supplementary chargesheets under IPC Sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120B, and 34.