The Incredible Banker Read online

  'When did you say this guy met Jinesh?' Thakurta asked.

  'In mid-2008.'

  'Hmm...Jinesh is telling you the truth guys,' Thakurta gave a wry smile to the three of them and shook his head. 'He is in fact telling you the truth.'

  'Ok. So now you know something we don't,' Andy interjected when the silence continued for a while.

  'Guys, what I am going to tell you will not make it to your newspapers till I give you explicit approvals. If it does, I know how to deal with it.' Thakurta warned Andy and Karan before his revelation.

  'What is this about, Thakurta?' Andy asked.

  'First tell me, is this acceptable or not?'

  Everyone looked at Andy who just nodded.

  'In the middle of 2008, there was an unsuccessful attempt at hacking into the passport office website and stealing the data pertaining to passport holders in the Mumbai passport office. It was around the same time this bloke is talking about. We couldn't identify the location from where the hack was tried because the guy used complex communication routers and left us with an intricate maze of web addresses to resolve, which we were never able to convincingly do. We confiscated computers, raided premises, which include your guy's café, but we were not able to convincingly arrive at a conclusion and hence never made this public. A number of people are under surveillance on this issue, and I am sure your guy would also be on that list. These could be surely related.'

  'I have never heard about it.' Andy was surprised.

  'That's because it's classified. Even in our database it shows as a suspected breach,' Thakurta replied.

  'Oh! This gives the story a completely different twist. So our man here may actually be telling us the truth. The Naxalite did try to hack into the passport office website. Once he was unsuccessful, they found some other way to get the data and then used the same data on passports to apply to GB2 for credit cards under Symbiotic Technologies. The passport numbers and the passport holders' names on documents supplied with the credit card applications would have been genuine, but the photograph on the passport was forged. This would dramatically reduce the chances of the bank's fraud processes picking out the passport as a fraudulent one. What a game! A big game this is! But one thing I can't understand, Andy,' said Karan.

  And what is that?' Andy asked Karan.

  'How did a large bank like GB2 with best global practices and stringent risk controls fall prey to this? Despite all the "love and affection" I have for Deepak I don't think he is a criminal. I do not think he would have been party to this at all. Somewhere deep down, my conscience says this. What beats me is that an organisation like GB2 can make such a large slip-up. Very, very strange.'

  'We can never tell, Karan. Appearances are deceptive,' Thakurta argued.

  'But this could also mean that while you have identified the lapse in the case of one Symbiotic Technologies, there may be many such cases and thousands of benami cards floating around across the banking system in the country,' Karan said, suddenly aware of how big this could be.

  'Yes, you are right, Karan. Let's however first deal with Symbiotic and the related issues before we get to the other ones,' said Thakurta.

  'Ok, let me now show you the video that Jinesh had recorded. First and exclusive visuals of Francis in flesh and blood!' Karan then swiped his hand on the track pad of his laptop to get his screen into action. The USB was in his hand. He plugged it in and waited for the clipping to come up on screen. It was a clipping of Francis walking into the shop. Thakurta looked at it intently. His eyes went wide in surprise even as his face became red with anger. He went through the clipping carefully – kept forwarding and rewinding the frames to make sure that he had not missed anything.

  The story was clear: Francis came into the internet café and spoke to Jinesh.

  'Bump up the audio. I can't hear him clearly' instructed Thakurta.

  'Here...use this', said Karan, handing him an earphone. The laptop was not connected to any audio system and hence he could not have amplified the sound beyond his laptop's maximum.

  From the conversation, it was clear that initially Jinesh had refused to give him the internet café when he wanted it all by himself for a day. There was no debate. His request was outrightly refused by Jinesh Shah. Then the person took out his phone and pulled out a piece of paper from his shirt pocket. The paper had someone's number. With the paper in his right hand and the phone in his left, he dialled a number and waited for the call to be picked up.

  'Hello.'

  ...

  'This guy here refuses to let out the café for a full day.'

  ...

  'Ok. Where else can I go?'

  ...

  'Next to Alfa store in Vile Parle? How do I get there? Is it too far from here?'

  ...

  'Hmm...there are three of them? ...ok, ok...I will go there. If I am not able to get it there then we will see what to do.'

  The video captured what he spoke but what the person on the other side spoke remained a mystery. It was a short conversation where the person asked for some directions to another internet café in the neighbourhood. After a chat for a couple of minutes, he disconnected his phone and walked away.

  'Who was the person that Francis spoke to? That person could be the vital link in this case,' Thakurta looked at the three of them and said. He decided to see the clipping again. This time he put the video on pause when he reached the part where Francis was speaking on the phone. He rewound the clip repeatedly and viewed the frames where Francis took out the phone and dialed a number, desperately trying to see if the dialed number was visible from any angle. It was not. Even when he magnified the screen freeze, he was not able to readout the complete number. All he could make out was that the first four digits of the number that Francis called were 9820.

  'Half of the Mumbai city has 9820 as the first four digits of their phone number,' Andy said, looking at Karan who just smiled wryly in return.

  Disappointed that he was not able to get the telephone number, Thakurta lost interest in the clipping. He was about to stop the clip as it played for the twenty-second time on Karan's laptop, when he froze. The clipping ended just as Francis finished his call and disconnected the line. The moment Francis finished the call, he moved the mobile phone away from his ears, brought it in line with his eyes, and pressed the red button to disconnect. It was a new phone, and he was slightly ill at ease using it. His fingers hadn't gotten used to the phone and he had to visually see the placement of the button every time he used it.

  Thakurta played the end of the clipping yet again and stopped the clipping at the instant when he moved the phone away from his ears and brought it in line with his eyes. He froze the frame and zoomed into the area over Francis' right shoulder. The computer took some time in pixilating the area. An hour glass image appeared in place of the cursory arrow which marks the cursor. But that disappeared within 3 seconds. And when it did, the phone was visible very clearly.Even though the screen was partly hidden by Francis' right cheek, a large portion of the screen was visible – bang in front of him. His expressions were a mix of shock and joy. On the screen, clearly visible, were the last six digits of the number Francis had called. He was ecstatic. He now had all the ten digits of the mobile number of the person Francis had spoken to.

  'Gotcha! This will be very useful for our investigation,' Thakurta said to himself as he tore a piece of paper from the notebook lying on the table to write it down. 'Let me quickly give it to the investigating team to figure out whose number this is.'

  Karan, took out his iPhone. He, too, wanted to note it down. 'It will be useful,' he said to himself, even as he started keying in the number into his iPhone. The hand holding the phone was shaking with excitement. He had never done anything like this in his life.

  He entered the number and was about to save it in his contacts when he noticed that he had pressed one digit incorrectly. Wiping the number off his screen, he tried to save it again. He keyed in all the digits carefully, one by
one. The moment he reached the last digit and entered it, a new text appeared on his screen. The text showed that the number already existed in Karan's mobile phone contact list. His face went pale. Below the number appeared the name of the person whose mobile number Francis had dialed.

  The name of the contact really threw Karan off-balance. He couldn't believe it. For a moment he thought that he had keyed in the wrong number. He looked at the number again. It was the same. Then how could this happen? It was almost impossible. The name of the contact had to be incorrect. Something was dramatically wrong.

  He looked at the screen once again, simultaneously glancing at the number written on a piece of paper by Thakurta's side. It matched. The entire clipping was played again. He stopped at the point where the first four digits were visible. They were the same as he had taken them down in his notebook. By the time he looked up Andy and Thakurta were mid-way to the conference room where Jinesh was patiently interacting with the lawyer.

  Andy, Andy...this is crazy,' he screamed when he saw that Andy was getting into an elevator. Andy stopped abrupdy.

  'We have a problem here, Andy. You, too, need to see this Mr Thakurta,' Karan said hurriedly.

  'What happened, Karan?' both Thakurta and Andy exclaimed, almost in unison.

  When Karan told them what he had just seen, both of them were flabbergasted. Was he serious? Could this be true? This had much larger implications.

  "This is outrageous. Nothing but a systematic rape of our systems. We do not know how many such individuals exist all across. We could be up against a system full of fraudsters. I told you. Deepak is not the kind of guy who would indulge in these things. His integrity was never a suspect. Yes, he was strong-headed but not someone who would take the entire system for a ride. It looks like he has been used as a pawn,' Karan said.

  'Maybe, Karan. But he may still be involved. What this shows us is that there are others involved, too, but it doesn't absolve Deepak of all the wrongs. What you just saw proves beyond doubt that there are others, too!' Thakurta now had a worried look on his face.

  'What are we going to do now, Mr Thakurta?'

  'What we have seen just now is reason enough for us to treat this individual as a suspect and take into custody,' said Thakurta, referring to the person whose name was blaring from Karan's phone. 'We should initiate a search of the suspect's office and residence to see if we recover something. The Public Security Act gives us the right to detain a person indefinitely if we think the person is a threat to public security,' Thakurta told them.

  'Human right activists call it a draconian law,' Andy added. Karan had no clue about it.

  'Look, Andy. Whose side are you on? Make up your mind. You called me here to tell me to take action on this new information of yours. And now you are also handing out a threat. What is it that you want to do?' Thakurta was clearly irritated.

  'I was just making you aware, Mr Thakurta.'

  'Ok, here is a deal,' Thakurta said. 'I am going to take a team to the suspect's residence. I am within my right to conduct a search of the residence, provided the suspect is present during the search. If the suspect is at home right now, I will be able to do something. Do you guys know where the person lives?'

  'What if the suspect is not at home?' Karan asked.

  'We will have to wait till tomorrow. We can then pick the person up from office and head straight to the residence and conduct a detailed search. Maybe we will find something.'

  'Can we keep a watch on the house tonight? I will surely be able to get the address for you. If we notice something suspicious, or if an escape is attempted, we can anyway take the suspect into preventive custody. Else we can pick up the suspect for questioning tomorrow. Let's keep the bank in the loop. I will talk to Ronald again,' Karan suggested.

  Thakurta thought for a moment and nodded. 'Only because of you and the wonderful work that you have done, Karan.'

  That night Karan called Sherlyn on her mobile. 'Sherlyn, I need Ronald's residence number...need to speak to him urgently. He needs to know something which is going to happen tomorrow morning.

  Please!! Do not ask me for the details now. Will you give it to me?' Karan pleaded. Sherlyn obliged him but caveated it saying, 'Please do not tell him that I gave his number to you.'

  "Ihanks, Sherlyn.'

  The next call that Karan made was to Ronald. Ronald was quite receptive this time. He had paid the price for not listening to him earlier. When Karan narrated the entire story to him he was stunned. It took some time for the reality to sink in. He now knew why, despite all the controls, it never worked. How Symbiotics took the entire bank for a ride despite their world class processes! He had one request in the end. 'Karan, can you please speak to Thakurta and make sure that no one creates a scene in office.'

  'Ronald, are you ok if I get Thakurta on the line as well? You can then directly tell him how you would prefer it done.' Ronald agreed.

  Karan then got Thakurta on the line and the modus operandi was agreed upon. The CBI was indulging Karan and Andy because they were the guys behind the entire investigation. They had the choice of going public without passing on the information to Thakurta. But they didn't go down that path, and for once Thakurta was indebted to them.

  18 December 2009

  GB2, Ronald McCains Office

  Mumbai

  RONALD McCain was a nervous man as he entered his office that Friday dressed in smart casuals, the colours of which oozed an energy which belied the inherent stress in his mind. He had never done this before.

  His last few days had begun with discussions on the Symbiotic case and ended with the same. On Friday, too, like every other day he called Mansi, Bhisham, Saurabh, Ramneek, Rohan and Inder for a discussion on the Symbiotic issue. He had called them early on Friday morning and asked them to come prepared with their respective team members involved in the investigations. Updates to Global HQ went twice a day, given the sensitivity of the case. A complete debriefing was necessary before formulating a response. And don't forget, this is an in-person briefing,' he told everyone. No one was prepared for this. This sent everyone scurrying to their respective team members asking them to travel to Ronald's office for a briefing at 9.00 a.m.

  At 9.20 a.m, everyone was in his office. Armed with their updates, they had come with their respective teams. Ramneek Chahal had come with Bhalla, Bhisham had come with Savitha, Mansi had come with Rajesh Krishnamoorthy and so on.

  The discussion started but Ronald was too distracted. The only thing running on his mind was the discussion with Thakurta and Karan the previous night. How was he going to explain this to the Global Head Quarters ? They would not take kindly to this. He kept looking at his watch.

  At 9.45 a.m., the door opened and Karan, Andy, Thakurta and a few officers from CBI walked into Ronald's room. Two of them stood blocking the door to make sure that no one exited the room without their permission.

  'Hey Karan,' Ramneek began but when he didn't get the same response from him, he backed off.

  Rohan Naik was the guy who figured out that something was not going according to the plan. 'What's going on, guys? How did you get in?' He asked them and when Thakurta didn't even look at him, he desperately started screaming for Sherlyn. 'Sherlyn...Sherlyn, can you please call the security.'

  Sherlyn peeped into the room but Ronald waved her away, 'It's all right, Rohan. They are here with my permission. Not that they need it.'

  Rohan didn't understand. He just looked at Ronald, wondering what was going on. Bhisham instinctively came closer to Savitha. The protective male instinct took over.

  Ronald then looked at Thakurta and nodded. 'Please go ahead.' Thakurta didn't really need to have waited for this signal from Ronald. He turned to the officer to his right and nodded. A nod that symbolically urged the operation to begin. The officer was joined by a team of two and all of them moved towards Bhisham. A few steps, and they were right in front of him. Everyone was wondering what was going on. Two firm hands gripped Bhisham.
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  'What's going on?' He screamed. But it was more out of panic than anger that he screamed. He had a scared look on his face, but only till the hands that gripped him, shoved him to a side only to release him. The lady officer took a step forward and held Savitha, who was too shocked to respond.

  'Savitha,' it was Thakurta who spoke sternly. 'We are taking you into custody under the Public Security Act. You are suspected of furthering the cause of Naxalites and, in the process, waging a war against the nation and also working with anti-social elements to overthrow the legally elected government of the state. You will have to come with us. We do not want to use any force, so please do not make us change our minds.'

  Everybody in the room was beyond shock. Savitha – a Naxal sympathiser. It was unimaginable. Some in the room knew that she was seeing Deepak but never expected her to be involved in the case. She was so far looked upon as a simple girl who fell in love with the wrong man. She was the victim. Deepak could have been lured into this line by Savitha and Francis.

  Thakurta looked at Ronald and said, 'Mr McCain, thank you for your support. We will be proceeding against her in the cases of money laundering and fraud against the bank, too. I would leave it to you to figure out how you would like to manage this internally.'

  Savitha didn't offer any resistance. She quietly stood where she was, held firmly by the CBI officers. Thakurta looked at the lady officer and nodded. 'I will see you back at the headquarters,' he said. As if robotically programmed, the lady led Savitha out of the office, into a waiting lift, and then straight into a car parked outside the MG road office of GB2.

  Karan then looked at Ronald and said, 'Sir, we would like to speak with you in private if it's ok with you.' Ronald looked at the others, who quietly walked out of the room.

  'Mr McCain,' began Thakurta, "The moment Savitha left: her house this morning, we entered her house and conducted a search. Under the law I can be in the dock for doing this. But I took a chance based on this gentleman's hunch.' He pointed to Karan. 'His hunch seemed to be correct.'