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Daily News & Analysis
Thursday, January 31, 2008
ATM cash loaders in Vadodara con bank of Rs1.3 cr
The security services handling cash says heist is first of its kind in India
Maulik Buch. Vadodara
Vadodara has secured the sorry honour of being the site of India's first systematic and insider-driven operation to steal money from ATMs. Two custodians of CMS security services — entrusted with the responsibility of loading cash in ATMs of banks such as the ICICI and Axis — have been arrested by the Panigate police for sponging off Rs1.3 crore. The accused, Mehul Shah and Kalpesh Soni, who had been with the company for past five years, were exposed by the driver and the gunman accompanying them in their rounds. The incident that set off suspicions in the colleagues of the accused occurred on January 25. On that day, Shah and Soni had been directed to load cash in various ATMs on Waghodia road and started off with Rs1,95,00,000. After returning to office, they submitted Rs36,10,000 to the department concerned. But the two apparently had handed over a packet to a man, as yet unidentified, on their way to the office. The driver of the van, Deviprasad Rajput, and the gunman, Narendra Sharma, had seen the handover and reported it to their senior security officer. Subsequently, CMS officials went to an ATM centre at Ajwa road and summoned the accused. The officials counted the cash in their presence and found that the machine had Rs183400 less than the proper amount. The next day, the company officials and some from the ICICI bank inspected several ATMs and the swindle was discovered. They found that an ATM at Ayurvedic crossroads of the ICICI bank was Rs14,02,200 less than the actual amount of Rs37,60,800. An ATM of the Axis bank at the Manki complex, was Rs10,800 short, while in another ATM, Rs27,20,100 unaccounted for.After the suspicions of theft were confirmed, the manager of the CMS security services filed a complaint against the accused at the Panigate police station. The inspector of detection of crime branch, Kaushik Pandya, said "The investigation to trace the person who was given the cash by the two accused is underway. We are confident we will find him very soon." More reports, p3 & 24
Article
Daily News & Analysis
Thursday, January 31, 2008
The two youth had identified the critical gap in communication
Maulik Buch. Vadodara
The theft of ATM money committed by two 'custodians' of the cash while it was being loaded in the ATM's chest has exposed the chinks in the armour of this most secure of systems. The two accused managed to cheat even the auto-intimation system that guards the money being loaded into an ATM. Each ATM has a chest in which currency notes are loaded by the security agency given the contract for loading the cash. The machine has a lock which cannot be operated by one key. It can be operated only with two keys each of which is in the possession of a separate person. The two persons holding the two keys, respectively, are designated as the custodians of the cash. When both the custodians open the lock of the ATM machine with their respective keys at the same time, the machine asks them for a password before giving them access to its chest. The security agency discloses the password to only one of the custodians. Once the password has been fed into the ATM, its chest can be accessed and currency notes placed in it. As soon as the cash is loaded, a message is generated automatically and transmitted directly to the main office. The message consists of the details of the cash loaded. According to the police, the two accused made a careful study of the system and were able to identify a weakness in it which enabled them to steal the money at the time it was being loaded into the ATM. Police officials said the two accused had discovered that banks generally ordered a fixed amount to be loaded in a particular ATM even if the ATM already had the amount in balance. While loading the cash in the ATM chest, the two must have found that the chest already had the amount the bank had ordered to be loaded in the chest. How much money is left in a chest depends on how much money customers withdraw from the ATM on any particular day. The police suspect the accused must have come to the conclusion that custodians did not submit any report on the total cash available in an ATM's chest after loading of fresh cash. The two accused took advantage of this gap in communication and stole the amount from the money already in the chest at the time of loading of cash.
Daily News & Analysis
Thursday, January 31, 2008
ATM cash loaders in Vadodara con bank of Rs1.3 cr
The security services handling cash says heist is first of its kind in India
Maulik Buch. Vadodara
Vadodara has secured the sorry honour of being the site of India's first systematic and insider-driven operation to steal money from ATMs. Two custodians of CMS security services — entrusted with the responsibility of loading cash in ATMs of banks such as the ICICI and Axis — have been arrested by the Panigate police for sponging off Rs1.3 crore. The accused, Mehul Shah and Kalpesh Soni, who had been with the company for past five years, were exposed by the driver and the gunman accompanying them in their rounds. The incident that set off suspicions in the colleagues of the accused occurred on January 25. On that day, Shah and Soni had been directed to load cash in various ATMs on Waghodia road and started off with Rs1,95,00,000. After returning to office, they submitted Rs36,10,000 to the department concerned. But the two apparently had handed over a packet to a man, as yet unidentified, on their way to the office. The driver of the van, Deviprasad Rajput, and the gunman, Narendra Sharma, had seen the handover and reported it to their senior security officer. Subsequently, CMS officials went to an ATM centre at Ajwa road and summoned the accused. The officials counted the cash in their presence and found that the machine had Rs183400 less than the proper amount. The next day, the company officials and some from the ICICI bank inspected several ATMs and the swindle was discovered. They found that an ATM at Ayurvedic crossroads of the ICICI bank was Rs14,02,200 less than the actual amount of Rs37,60,800. An ATM of the Axis bank at the Manki complex, was Rs10,800 short, while in another ATM, Rs27,20,100 unaccounted for.After the suspicions of theft were confirmed, the manager of the CMS security services filed a complaint against the accused at the Panigate police station. The inspector of detection of crime branch, Kaushik Pandya, said "The investigation to trace the person who was given the cash by the two accused is underway. We are confident we will find him very soon." More reports, p3 & 24
Article
Daily News & Analysis
Thursday, January 31, 2008
The two youth had identified the critical gap in communication
Maulik Buch. Vadodara
The theft of ATM money committed by two 'custodians' of the cash while it was being loaded in the ATM's chest has exposed the chinks in the armour of this most secure of systems. The two accused managed to cheat even the auto-intimation system that guards the money being loaded into an ATM. Each ATM has a chest in which currency notes are loaded by the security agency given the contract for loading the cash. The machine has a lock which cannot be operated by one key. It can be operated only with two keys each of which is in the possession of a separate person. The two persons holding the two keys, respectively, are designated as the custodians of the cash. When both the custodians open the lock of the ATM machine with their respective keys at the same time, the machine asks them for a password before giving them access to its chest. The security agency discloses the password to only one of the custodians. Once the password has been fed into the ATM, its chest can be accessed and currency notes placed in it. As soon as the cash is loaded, a message is generated automatically and transmitted directly to the main office. The message consists of the details of the cash loaded. According to the police, the two accused made a careful study of the system and were able to identify a weakness in it which enabled them to steal the money at the time it was being loaded into the ATM. Police officials said the two accused had discovered that banks generally ordered a fixed amount to be loaded in a particular ATM even if the ATM already had the amount in balance. While loading the cash in the ATM chest, the two must have found that the chest already had the amount the bank had ordered to be loaded in the chest. How much money is left in a chest depends on how much money customers withdraw from the ATM on any particular day. The police suspect the accused must have come to the conclusion that custodians did not submit any report on the total cash available in an ATM's chest after loading of fresh cash. The two accused took advantage of this gap in communication and stole the amount from the money already in the chest at the time of loading of cash.
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