Cybercriminals allegedly siphon ₹22.30 crore from Tamil Nadu department account
Unknown fraudsters gained unauthorised access to a rural development bank account to transfer funds meant for primary healthcare infrastructure.
Cybercriminals allegedly siphoned off ₹22,30,04,879 from a bank account belonging to the Tamil Nadu Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Directorate between October 12 and 30, according to The Hindu.
K.R. Ramprasad, a Block Development Officer and Superintendent attached to the Directorate, lodged a complaint with the Chennai Commissioner of Police regarding the unauthorised access to the department's online financial portal.
The funds were held in a Single Nodal Account at the HDFC Bank CIT Nagar branch in the name of the Director of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj. The money was part of the Fifteenth Finance Commission Health Sector Grants intended to strengthen primary healthcare infrastructure and services in rural areas.
The complaint states that 46 transactions were identified, routing the money to various companies and individuals across the country. Entities named in the complaint include Samvyadh Marketing, Krishna Kirana Store, Pchandr Group, Bharat Grain, Nexvora Commerce Private Limited, M/S K H B Brick Field, Heyinz Infrastructure Private Limited, Octave Limited, MMABS Private Limited, and NAKSRAJ Tour and Travels.
The fraudulent transactions reportedly used maker and checker user ID credentials associated with Block Development Offices in Nagapattinam, Ramanathapuram, and Tiruppur districts. It is not yet established if the fraudsters compromised login credentials, the banking portal, or OTP authentication systems.
The Chennai Central Crime Branch's Cyber Crime Wing has registered an FIR and launched an investigation into the matter.