Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Aug 19: In a bizarre case of mistaken identity, a bank closed the account of a man and transferred his funds to a woman’s account who identified herself as his widow.

Nazeer Ahmed, a realtor residing in Padarayanapura West was in shock when he received an account closure notification from his private bank in Cubbon Park area. The reason for the closure given was his demise.

The 63-year-old’s daughter who rushed to the bank was told that the Rs 1.7 lac in his account was transferred to his widow named Khalida Khanum on August 13, after she submitted his death certificate and his latest bank statement.

Ahmed and his daughter filed a cheating case against Khanum at Cubbon Park police station, who upon investigation found that that she was telling the truth.

Khalida Khanum is the wife of a man, also named Nazeer Ahmed who died of natural causes six months back. She too lives in Padarayanapura West, the same locality as realtor Nazeer Ahmed.

The confusion started when a courier boy delivered realtor Nazeer Ahmed’s bank statement to wrong Nazeer Ahmed’s house. Khanum who works in a private organisation mistook that her husband has an account in the private bank.

Hence she visited the bank to close the account and claim the funds. Upon receiving the bank statement and the death certificate, the bank sympathetic of her situation failed to do its verification process and immediately transferred the funds.

However, when the account got closed the realtor Nazeer Ahmed received a notification.

A senior police officer told media that Khanum is innocent and it’s a case of mistaken identity. However, a criminal complaint has been filed against the bank for its negligence in verifying the account details. The money will be recovered from Khanum and will be reverted to realtor Nazeer Ahmed, the cop added.