Experts suggest involvement of some trustees, bank officials

Finance experts insist that the South Indian Education Society (SIES) trust which has been cheated of about Rs12 crore should have been careful while investing its funds. 

The trust officials deposited crores of rupees in various banks through an agent who had promised them one per cent over the official interest rates on fixed deposits, if they invested through him. 

Charted accountant Ajay Pansari of Pansari and Garg Associates said, “Such a scam would not be possible without the involvement of vested interests and bank officials. The trust officials should have approached the bank directly. Similarly, when creating the overdraft account on the fixed deposits, bank officials should have checked all the papers properly and verified this with the trust.” 

Incidentally, two trustees of SIES are chartered accounts and they should have been aware about the rules. 

Daniel Pranjal, chief strategist at Strategy India, said, “We regularly follow financial scams and in this case the trustees should have been more careful. There's always due diligence done before handing over even Rs1 lakh to anyone and in this case the funds amount into crores. An insider would have to be involved from among the trustees or office-bearers.” 

However, investigators say it appears that SIES trustees were kept in the dark by the accused. “The trustees don't go to the bank to deposit the money. They pass the resolution and authorize someone to carry out the transaction. We will investigate the role of those who handled cash for the trust,” said an officer involved in the probe.