The CBI has taken over the investigation into an alleged swindling of $171 million (about ₹1,200 crore) from Union Bank of India by hackers in 2016, officials said Monday.
The case, which was being probed by the Mumbai police, pertains to the transfer of about ₹1,200 crore from the nostro account of the bank to various countries on July 20, 2016, they said.
During a reconciliation exercise of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) messages, the bank had found that $171 million was unaccounted for, the officials further said. The money was reportedly traced to banks in Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan and Australia from the nostro account of the bank.
A nostro account refers to an account that a bank holds in a foreign currency in another bank overseas to enable foreign trade by its clients. The transfer was done from two banks based in New York which managed Union Bank of India’s nostro accounts.
The funds were reportedly recovered through diplomatic manoeuvres.
The bank, in its police complaint on July 21, 2016, had pegged the amount at $30.01 million but the police mentioned the amount to be $171 million in its FIR.
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