India: $1.43 billion 'accidentally' transferred into taxi driver's bank account
Follow UsA taxi driver in Barnala city of India's northern Punjab state was shocked beyond words when a huge sum of money was transferred into his account.
Cash to the tune of INR 98 billion (approximately USD 1.43 billion) was transferred into the account of Balwinder Singh on November 4, four days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced abolishing of high-value bank notes.
The amount was, however, deducted from the account the very next day.
Since then, Singh has visited all branches of his bank in the city to end suspense on the mysterious transaction but is still dissatisfied as no bank employee is willing to clear the air about the episode.
"I am not satisfied with what the bank manager is telling me about the amount that has been transferred in my account. Bank manager is telling it is not their fault so I am not satisfied with it," said Singh on Tuesday (November 29).
According to local media reports, Singh has also accused the bank of taking his passbook and issuing a new one without entering the amount credit and subsequent debit.
Income Tax officer Kapil Kishore said they were recording statements of the bank employees to probe the matter.
"The bank account holder said that he has no connection with the transferred amount. It is the responsibility of the bank manager to investigate how such a huge amount was transferred. The driver has also mentioned in his application that the bank has asked him to submit his passbook. We will check the bank records after taking permission from the bank and our higher authorities. We will also record the bank manager's statement and conduct investigations based on all facts," said Kishore.
Further investigation is underway.
(Reuters)