Noida Police have arrested two individuals, Manu Bhola, and Tridib Das, for their involvement in a major fraud where they attempted to steal Rs9 crore from a Noida Authority bank account. This fraud came to light when police discovered that Rs3.9 crore had already been transferred out of the account.
According to DCP (Crime) Shakti Avasthy, the arrested suspects used forged documents to gain control over a Noida Authority account at the Bank of India’s Sector 62 branch. The fraudsters had managed to create two Fixed Deposit accounts in the name of Noida Authority, which they later manipulated to execute fraudulent transactions.
The police investigation revealed that the funds were siphoned through a hawala transaction network, with the money routed to Gujarat. Documents recovered from the suspects included seven types of stamp seals, Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, debit and credit cards, cheque books, and passbooks—pointing to a well-organized scam operation.
The mastermind of the operation, Manu Bhola, is a BSc graduate in nautical science, who had been involved in similar fraudulent activities for nearly a decade. Police also found that Bhola had previously used fake identification, including a fraudulent Aadhaar card in the name of “Rajiv Kapoor.”
The scam had begun with Bhola and his accomplice Das obtaining sensitive information regarding the Noida Authority’s bank accounts and forging documents, including power of attorney letters, to facilitate unauthorized transactions. Bhola, along with his team, also made unsuccessful attempts to swindle money from government department FD accounts in other regions, including Ranchi and Guwahati.
The fraud was discovered when the Noida Authority’s finance officer, Manoj Kumar Singh, went to verify the FD details and found that the amounts were never deposited. Instead, the funds had been transferred out in two separate transactions. Prompt action from the Noida Authority and the bank helped to freeze the accounts and block further fraudulent transfers.
The investigation is still ongoing, with police examining how the suspects gained access to sensitive government documents and looking into the role of any bank officials who might have been involved.
