Bengal tab scam: Fraudsters hired bank accounts to divert funds

Kolkata (The Uttam Hindu):  Fraudsters hired over a thousand bank accounts to siphon off the West Bengal government's financial assistance to higher secondary students for purchasing tabs, investigations so far have revealed. Sources in the police said that the investigating officials have confiscated 1,190 accounts and legal process has started so that the scam proceeds deposited there can be returned to the state exchequer. The total number of arrests made so far in this connection is 27.

The modus operandi of the scam involved the funds released from the state exchequer for the purchase of tabs being diverted to the hired accounts from the bank accounts of the genuine beneficiaries. The money released from the state government exchequer was thus credited to the accounts of fraudsters instead of going to the beneficiary students. As per the latest information available, the investigating officials have found the roots of the cyber-forgery which was operating from Chopra in the North Dinajpur district of the state. Their style of operations had been somewhat similar to that conducted by the Jamtara gang of Jharkhand.

As numerous incidents of phishing across the country have been detected with links in Jamtara, the place is often nicknamed the "phishing capital” of the country. On Thursday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that these fraudsters were enjoying the patronage of some political parties. “Often they are hiring guest houses in the city and conducting operations from there taking some people in confidence. They also frequent the shopping malls,” the Chief Minister said. Meanwhile, the state government has alerted all district authorities to adopt extreme caution in the disbursement of funds under the Kanyashree project following the tab scam.

A notification has been issued by the state Women and Child Development, and the Social Welfare Department where it was claimed that the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has flagged a potential security breach on the Kanyashree portal, which may have compromised specific stakeholder accounts. The department has also formed a six-point initiative to prevent similar phishing attempts. Kanyashree project is the monthly dole scheme for the girl students in the state.