Man behind Himalayan Bank ATM Scam held after two years

KATHMANDU:

After a two-year manhunt, the law enforcement agency has managed to nab Anish Bhakta Suwal Dangol, a former ATM in-charge of Himalayan Bank Ltd, for his alleged involvement in defrauding the bank of more than Rs 50 million.

A team from Metropolitan Police crime Division detained Dangol from Nepalgunj yesterday, informed MPCD chief SSP Puskar Karki at a press meet at his office.

Dangol, who joined the bank as an IT officer at the branch office in Pulchowk, Lalitpur, in December 2004, was later deputed as chief of the Card Centre at the Head Office in Kamaladi, where he worked until the bank suspended him in 2012 in connection with the ATM scam.

SSP Karki said Dangol swindled the bank of Rs 57.54 million via Credit and Debit cards, which the mastermind made in an unauthorised way.

“He would draw money from cards issued in his and his wife’s names and delete the history of transactions. As the man himself had developed the bank’s software, he was able to easily misuse it ,” Karki said.

Investigation has revealed that Dangol had withdrawn Rs 949,300 in 2007; Rs 2.74 million in 2008; Rs 9.12 million in 2009; Rs 7.22 million in 2010; Rs 16.18 million in 2011; and Rs 18.03 million in 2012 using his card (5543700000002087).

Likewise, Dangol had withdrawn Rs 2.53 million in 2010; Rs 310, 000 in 2011; Rs 441,000 in 2012 with the credit card (41014900060986513) of his wife.

However, the theft did not cause any loss to the depositors.

The scam came to light after some branch offices with ATM machines, in September 2012, complained about auditing problems and asked the head office to check the IT card system, said Karki.

When Dangol was on leave, his subordinate staff Giris Raj Pandey checked the system thoroughly and found receivable amounts to be too high. Besides, there was also mismatch between banking data and reports of Visa card issued in the name of Dangol’s wife.

Police investigation also revealed that Dangol had started visiting casinos from 2008 onwards and had lost Rs four to five million. Officials also suspect that he might have misused his power to recover gambling losses.

After, the bank lodged an FIR and police launched a manhunt, he fled to India. “As he was an expert with ATM cards, he transacted cash from the account of the bank using his VISA card there. Investigation related to this is under way,” said SSP Karki, adding that they are also probing whether his wife or other staff at the bank were involved in the scam.

Source: THT