The Panvel City police have booked five people for attempting to defraud a private bank of Rs 33.29 lakh. One of the suspects had contacted the bank claiming to be the owner of a steel company and even got it to transfer the money. After being informed by the real owner about the con, the bank alerted the other banks where the money had been sent and got the transactions blocked. No arrests have been made yet.

The police said an employee of the bank got a call on July 12, with the caller identifying himself as Iqbal Qazi, the owner of Iqra Steel tube Pvt. Ltd. The person said he had run out of cheques and wanted to transfer some money because of a medical emergency. The caller claimed he knew the branch manager and also took his name. He said he would be getting a fixed deposit done for R1 crore in the evening.