You’ve probably seen fake jeans, fake gadgets, even a fake chain restaurant or two. But have you ever opened a bank account in a familiar bank and later found out that it’s a fake? In Dharmapuri district on Monday, police arrested four men for opening a fake branch of Yes Bank called ‘Yes ABS Bank’ and operating it for more than five months in the district.

The main accused, Somasundaram, (31), was reportedly recruited by Yes Bank as a business correspondent to carry out some minimal bank operations, but ended up starting off a bank branch with his three friends. To fool customers, the fake branch sported a logo very similar to the actual Yes Bank.

When the Yes Bank branch in Salem came to know about a branch functioning in Dharmapuri, officials decided to enquire into it and found out that it was a fake branch. An FIR was registered by the Branch Manager, Sasikumar of Yes Bank, Salem on Monday.

Saravanan, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Dharmapuri told TNM, "About 83 customers had opened an account in the bank and it had received deposits totaling Rs 1,23,000."

Moreover, the bank had also taken Rs 1000 each from various candidates for a recruitment drive. They had also issued challan forms and other slips from a printing press.

“Four people have been arrested in the case. They were planning to open other branches of this fake bank in Tiruchengode, Namakkal, Rasipuram and Aatayampatti in Salem. The main accused is Somasundaram. He hails from Pennagram in Dharmapuri,” said Saravanan.

The other three involved in the case are Sundershan, (32), Murgesan, (48) and Balaji, (24). All four have been remanded to Dharmapuri prison.

This story was first reported by Sivaguru of The New Indian Express.