Bankers wanted Kola Mohan's money, he was eyeing their's

Syed Amin Jafri in Vijayawada

Several bankers in this coastal city of Andhra Pradesh queued up before Kola Venkata Krishna Mohan after newspapers splashed across their front pages the news of his winning the $ 19.8 million Euro Lottery in November 1998. However, instead of succeeding in "securing" fat deposits from him, they ended up lending him huge amounts.

These bankers, quite understandably, are reluctant to talk about Kola Mohan. They are not willing to answer questions like how they lent money to Kola Mohan without trying to verify his claims of having won the Euro Lottery. "Please leave us alone. We have already faced enough embarrassment. Our higher officials are probing into all these aspects," pleaded a bank official.

The manager at Andhra Bank's Eluru Road branch declined to entertain any queries on the Kola Mohan affair. "We have lodged a complaint with the police. For any further information, you can talk to my higher-ups," he said with a disarming smile. A V S N Murthy, the Andhra Bank zonal manager at Vijayawada, was unavailable for comment as he was away on "inspection."

Giving details of the complaint lodged by the Andhra Bank, Vijayawada Police Commissioner Sudeep Lakhtakia said: "Kola Mohan deposited a cheque of Rs 1.05 million drawn on Barclay's Bank (London) at Andhra Bank. When the cheque bounced, the bank officials got a little suspicious, but Kola Mohan immediately deposited Rs 1.05 million in cash at the bank."

"Subsequently, he deposited another cheque for 28,500 pounds (Rs 1.75 million) drawn on Barclays Bank. When the cheque was sent for collection to Barclays Bank, they were told that Kola Mohan's account had been closed," the commissioner said.

Kola Mohan had also filed an application at Andhra Bank seeking a loan of Rs 7.5 million. He had submitted a bond purportedly issued by the Midlands Bank, London as a collateral. When Andhra Bank officials made enquiries with the Midlands Bank, which is an associate of the Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation, they were told the document was not genuine.

Police investigations subsequently revealed that Kola Mohan had got a fake bond certificate worth 12.5 million pounds issued in his name by the Midlands Bank Trust Company Limited transmited to his e-mail address: vkola@england.com. The bond was issued against a deposit made by him through a cheque from Manhattan Bank, New York.

Kola Mohan told the police that he had taken a loan of Rs 2 million from the State Bank of Hyderabad's Gurunanaknagar branch in Vijayawada and another of Rs 2.2 million from Vysya Bank's Bidar branch in neighbouring Karnataka after depositing a fake cheque drawn on Barclay's Bank, London, for 35,500 pounds.

He also claimed to have accounts in various banks in other parts of India, besides London, Singapore and Mauritius. The police have seized passbooks relating to his accounts in various Indian banks. The passbooks revealed that his bank balance totalled only a few thousand rupees.

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