Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee
KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee fell victim to cyber fraud, with around Rs 56 lakh siphoned off from his bank account using another ‘dormant’ account linked to him. The bank has filed a complaint with Kolkata Police’s cybercrime unit, reports Dwaipayan Ghosh. Between 2001 and 2006, when Banerjee was the MLA from Asansol South, an account was opened in his name, along with other legislators, at a public sector bank’s legislative assembly sub-branch, which is under the high court branch. All his allowances as an MLA were deposited into this account. Banerjee, who is now an MP from Serampore, stated that there were no transactions in this old account for a long time, rendering it a ‘dormant’ account. The fraudsters exploited this account for their scheme. Banerjee said the manager of the HC branch called him up on Thursday to inform him about the fraud. Police suspect that using the MP’s photo and mobile number, Rs 56 lakh was transferred from his Kalighat branch account to the ‘dormant’ account, and subsequently, the entire amount was withdrawn. “The fraudster forged a PAN and Aadhaar card by superimposing a different image on the apparently genuine documents. Through impersonation, they updated the customer’s KYC information and subsequently changed the registered mobile number on October 28 and reset the password,” the bank’s senior manager, Smita Kundu, said.
