Bengaluru: Theis an organised conspiracy to malign and defame Sri Charan Cooperative Bank by spreading false rumours that the bank has misused the funds of the depositors. “This is an motivated campaign and a deep rooted plot of the vested interests against the bank,” the Governing Council of the bank asserted.
The bank further stated that they have not misused the funds of the depositors. “On the other hand, the bank has been giving top priority and importance to the depositors,” the release added and said, “There is a concerted smear campaign going on against the bank.”
Providing the details of the working of the bank, the release stated that one N. R. Nagaraj had opened a current account in the bank in the name of Ultra Bright Cements on February 20.
“Within one month of opening the account, he had given cheques to various persons to the tune of Rs. 138 Crore even though there was no amount in his account. All the cheques have bounced. The RBI issued notice to our bank seeking explanation,” the release added.
Meanwhile, an amount of Rs. 71.69 Lakh had been credited to Nagaraj’s account. At the end of the financial year, the bank has deducted Rs. 19 Lakh and Rs 16 lakhs towards cheque bounce amount. Additionally, the bank has also deducted Rs. 36,56,909 towards GST which is perfectly legal. The rest of the amount has been returned to the account holder. “There is no lapse whatsoever in the entire transactions. The amounts have been deducted as per the RBI guidelines,” the bank asserted in the media statement.
The account holder approached the court with a complaint that the funds have been misused from his account. However, he had concealed from the court the issue of cheque bounce and GST. “The court had asked to conduct a probe on the basis of the complaint,” the release stated.
However, the Basavanagudi Police straightaway filed a FIR against the bank without even conducting a preliminary enquiry. “We have brought an injunction from the Additional Civil Court (OS Number 2925/2023) with a prayer that no action should be initiated without bringing it to the notice of the bank,” the release further explained.
Nagaraj has been showing the copy of the FIR and conducting a vilification campaign against the bank. “However, we will continue to give utmost importance and top priority to the customers. We here by warm those vested interests who are running a campaign of disinformation that we will initiate legal action against them,” the release stated.