Fake Currency Notes Worth Rs 17 Crore Found in PNB Bank

Saharanpur:- A case of replacing fake currency notes with genuine notes has come to light in the currency chest of Punjab National Bank (PNB), where fake notes worth around Rs 17 crore have been found. Police provided information about the matter on Tuesday. A case was registered on Monday at Sadar Bazar Police Station against four people, including three bank officials, in connection with the alleged fake currency racket.
PNB Senior Chief Manager (Circle) Nisha Singh said that the bank has suspended three officials with immediate effect—Senior Divisional Manager Ravi Kumar Kase and Currency Chest Managers Sushil Sharma and Amit Kumar.
Based on a complaint filed by the bank’s nodal officer Arun Kumar Chaubey, these three officials have been named as accused in the fake currency case. According to Saharanpur Senior Superintendent of Police Abhinandan Singh, a senior bank official lodged a police complaint alleging that fake notes worth around Rs 17 crore were found during an audit of cash in the currency chest.
The SSP said, "The bank’s audit team is still counting and matching the notes. The exact amount will be known after the bank provides the final figures."
According to officials, the matter came to light when Rs 4.3 lakh was found missing during the counting of cash sent from the currency chest to the bank’s headquarters. The matter was initially reported to PNB’s Meerut branch, following which Chaubey was sent to Saharanpur to investigate the case.
During the investigation, CCTV footage from the currency chest was examined, in which part-time employee Vishal Kumar was allegedly seen taking cash out of bundles of notes. Later, a separate case of theft was registered against Vishal Kumar.
The bank subsequently began an audit of the currency chest, which allegedly revealed several irregularities. During the audit, suspected fake notes with a face value of around Rs 17 crore were also found.
Officials said that the three senior officials associated with the currency chest were unable to provide satisfactory explanations regarding these irregularities. Police said that a case has been registered under relevant sections and an investigation is underway along with legal action. Both the police and the bank are conducting their respective investigations into the matter.