Fake SBI Branch Opened In Chhattisgarh, Dupes Lakhs from Locals

Raipur: In a most audacious attempt, a group of fraudsters established a fake branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) to con the gullible unemployed youths through fake appointments, fake training sessions, and elaborate setups.

This fake SBI branch was opened up at Chhapora in the Sakti district, around 250 kilometers from the state capital Raipur.

This fake SBI branch recruited six unsuspecting individuals. The fake SBI branch opened just 10 days ago, looked real because of its new furniture, professional papers, and functioning bank counters.

The unsuspecting villagers visited the fake bank to open accounts and conduct transactions. The newly hired employees were also happy to get jobs at a nationalize dbank so easily.

But the manager of the nearby Dabra branch of the SBI raised suspicions. On September 27, police and SBI officials reached the so called bank and it was discovered that the “branch” in Chhapora was a fraud. The appointments handed out by it were fake.

Police have identified four people involved in the scam. They include Rekha Sahu, Mandir Das, and Pankaj, who posed as the manager of the fake SBI branch.

The fake branch appointed employees with offer letters that looked real, for jobs like managers, marketing officers, cashiers, and computer operators.

The fraudster provided training to all the recruits and collected Rs 2 lakh to Rs 6 lakh rupees for giving appointments.

The scam was revealed when a villager, Ajay Kumar Agarwal, became suspicious and contacted the nearest legitimate branch of the SBI in Dabra, as he couldn’t believe that a new branch could open without notice. There was no branch code on the signboard of the fake branch.

The fake SBI branch was set up at a rented complex.