Fake bank seal used in property tax fraud case

A fraud case has been registered after it was discovered that a fake bank seal was allegedly used in property tax payment receipts to misappropriate funds.

The complaint was filed by Municipal Commissioner Mahantesh Hangargi. During verification on February 3, officials noticed that a challan dated January 28 bore a Union Bank seal but the amount was not reflected in the municipal account.

Further scrutiny revealed that the same challan number had been reused on February 4, again bearing a bank seal.

Preliminary investigation suggests that unidentified persons collected tax payments from the public and issued forged challans with fake bank seals, diverting the money instead of depositing it into the municipal account.