CBI alleges scholarship fraud by Bhopal college, bank officials – Rs 99.48 lakh siphoned
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against six individuals, including a senior bank manager and officials of a private college in Bhopal, for allegedly siphoning off Rs 99.48 lakh in government scholarships meant for MBA students. The funds were diverted through 118 bank accounts opened without the students' knowledge between January 2020 and October 2021.
According to the CBI's First Information Report (FIR), the fraud took place at the Habibganj branch of UCO Bank, where accounts were opened in the names of students of the Academy of Management College, a private business school affiliated with Barkatullah University. The agency alleges that the accused prepared forged account-opening forms with false signatures and bypassed mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) verification. Mobile numbers of the accused were linked to these accounts, and debit cards were issued and handed over to a single individual instead of the account holders.
The FIR names Prema Verma, then Senior Manager of UCO Bank's Habibganj branch, along with Vinay Malhotra, Director of the Academy of Management College; Aditya Malhotra, a professor; Manoj Jain and Vinesh Meshram, assistant professors; and Ram Singh Verma, a college employee. The agency has also cited “unknown others” in the case.
The CBI initiated a preliminary enquiry after a complaint from Lokesh Kumar, Deputy General Manager and Zonal Head of UCO Bank, Bhopal. The FIR states that government scholarship funds were credited into these fraudulent accounts and subsequently withdrawn before the beneficiaries could access them. The college had submitted bona fide certificates for the students, which the CBI later found to be fabricated.
When contacted, Vinay Malhotra said, “The bank officials were involved in this, and my name came up now in the CBI investigation.” A college representative stated that it was a matter between bank representatives and that the college administration had been wrongly implicated. “There are no irregularities in the scholarship scheme, and the college administration is cooperating with the authorities,” the representative said. The other accused have not yet responded to the allegations.
The case highlights lapses in the disbursement of government scholarships and raises questions about oversight in the banking and educational sectors. The CBI investigation is ongoing.
