India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has charged at least eight people, including five bank officials, in connection with a long-running series of frauds, some of which included fake letters of credit (L/Cs).

The frauds appear to have been perpetrated continually since 2011 up until this year.

Several scams

The accused are alleged to have caused losses to Syndicate Bank of the equivalent of around US$148 million.

They allegedly obtained this by discounting fake bills and cheques and arranging overdrafts against fake L/Cs and other false documents.

City connections

The accused include Udaipur-based businessmen, Piyush Jain and Vineet Jain, as well as Bharat Bamb, a chartered accountant also from Udaipur.

Five officials at the Udaipur branch of Syndicate Bank face charges, including its general manager, Avdhesh Tiwari.

As well as the Udaipur branch, branches of Syndicate Bank in Jaipur and Delhi are under investigation.

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