Bogus interest warrants dupe 2 Surat co-op banks

Beleaguered co-operative banks in Surat received another jolt when five bogus warrants were found deposited with two co-op banks in the city.

Narahari Rao, president, Surat Bankers Clearing House (SBCH), said, "Four bogus interest warrants, each valued at over Rs 4.50 lakh, were deposited with the City Light road branch of the Prime Co-operative Bank Ltd, on Thursday. These instruments were issued by a Shipping Credit & Investment Company of India Ltd of Mumabi, as interest on 9 per cent (tax-free) bonds in various series."

"The staff of Prime Bank got suspicious as interest warrants normally do not have such high value. On our check we found that no such company existed in the said address," Rao said.

The interest warrants were preset to the clearing house on Friday. Clearing house staff also found out another instrument issued in the name of the same company. This interest warrant, also valued at over Rs 4.50 lakh, was presented by the Akhandanand Co-operative Bank.

"The respective banks would have lost huge sum of money if these instruments had been debited. We understand that fraudulent dividend warrants of high value, under the title DIP - UTI, are in circulation," the SBCH president said.

"We have advised affcted banks to lodge police complaints. We have also asked all our member and sub-member banks to guard against fraudsters," he added.