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{{Short description|Indian businessman and fraudster (c. 1820s)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox criminal
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| name = Rajkissore Dutt
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| years_active = 1826 – 1828
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| known_for = committing a major fraud against the [[Bank of Bengal]], a predecessor of the [[State Bank of India]]
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| wanted_by = [[Bank of Bengal]], [[State Bank of India]]
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'''Rajkissore Dutt''' (alternate spelling: '''Raj Kishore Dutt''') ([[floruit|fl.]] 19th century) was a 19th-century Indian businessman, who is most notable for perpetrating a major fraud against the [[Bank of Bengal]], which is one of the predecessors of the [[State Bank of India]].

== Biography ==

=== Early life===

He was born and raised in [[Kolkata]]. He was known for being a devout Hindu and he regularly worshipped the Hindu goddess [[Kali]].<ref name="gutenberg.org">{{Cite web|title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Hindoos as they Are, by Shib Chunder Bose.|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37722/37722-h/37722-h.htm|access-date=2021-05-15|website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref>

=== Career ===

He established a bank in [[Kolkata]], known as [[Indian Bank]]. The bank circulated its own banknotes and achieved significant success.<ref name="gutenberg.org"/>

== Fraud against the Bank of Bengal ==

In 1826, he colluded with his son-in-law Dwarkey Nath Mitter to forge [[East India Company|Company's Paper]] or Government Securities. The documents were forged and passed off as genuine to the public. These documents enabled him to avail a loan of [[Indian Rupee|Rupees]] three and a half lakhs from the [[Bank of Bengal]], a predecessor of the [[State Bank of India]].<ref name="gutenberg.org"/><ref name="timesofindia.indiatimes.com">{{Cite web|agency=TNN|date=Jan 5, 2020|title=A walk down history when India banked on Calcutta {{!}} Kolkata News - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/a-walk-down-history-when-india-banked-on-calcutta/articleshow/73103013.cms|access-date=2021-05-15|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref>

=== Discovery and Trial ===

However, his misdeeds were soon discovered and he was tried, convicted and sentenced to transportation in the penal colonies of the [[East India Company]], where he lived out the rest of his life.<ref name="gutenberg.org"/>

In 1829, Mr. J. A. Dorin was the treasury secretary of the [[Bank of Bengal]]. When the documents forged by Rajkissore Dutt were presented before him for verification, he perceived some peculiarity in its printing. He forwarded the documents to the head office of the Treasury. At the Treasury, the documents were examined by [[Henry Prinsep]], the financial secretary to the [[East India Company|Company government]]. [[Henry Prinsep]] concluded that his own signatures had been forged by Rajkissore Dutt, and thus the fraud came to light.<ref name="Scutt 1904">{{Cite book|last=Scutt|first=G. P. Symes|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924022945129|title=The history of the Bank of Bengal; an epitome of a hundred years of banking in India|date=1904|publisher=Calcutta, Printed by A.J. Tobias|others=Cornell University Library}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=1904|title=THE HISTORY OF THE BANK OF BENGAL.|url=https://dspace.gipe.ac.in/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10973/10200/GIPE-163956.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y|access-date=2021-05-14|website=dspace.gipe.ac.in}}</ref>

The trial thus commenced and the final judgement was given on 30 June 1834 by the Court of Directors of the [[East India Company]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Scutt 1904"/>

=== Impact on the Bank ===

The fraud had a major impact on the [[Bank of Bengal]], which is a predecessor of the [[State Bank of India]]. The amount of the fraud was later written off towards the profit and loss account.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Roy|first=Shobha|title=SBI MUSEUM: A peek into the evolution of Indian banking|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/SBI-MUSEUM-A-peek-into-the-evolution-of-Indian-banking/article20468064.ece|access-date=2021-05-15|website=@businessline|date=7 July 2012 |language=en}}</ref> The fraud perpetrated by Rajkissore Dutt wiped out a major part of the bank's profit for the year. The fraud also impacted the dividends paid out by the [[Bank of Bengal|bank]] till the year 1834.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Roy|first=Shobha|title=SBI MUSEUM: A peek into the evolution of Indian banking|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/SBI-MUSEUM-A-peek-into-the-evolution-of-Indian-banking/article20468064.ece|access-date=2021-05-15|website=@businessline|date=7 July 2012 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="timesofindia.indiatimes.com"/>

== Media Coverage ==

The fraud and the court case associated with it was regularly reported and written about in the Calcutta Magazine and Monthly Register as well as [[The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and Its Dependencies]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sRkYAAAAYAAJ|title=Calcutta Magazine and Monthly Register|year=1830}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UbdAAQAAIAAJ&q=Rajkissore+Dutt&pg=RA1-PA129|title=The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Miscellany|year=1830}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xaIIAAAAQAAJ&q=Rajkissore+Dutt&pg=RA1-PA127|title=The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China, and Australasia|year=1830}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fz89AQAAMAAJ&q=Rajkissore+Dutt&pg=RA1-PA129|title=The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and Its Dependencies|year=1830}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Nagarwala case]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{SBI}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutt, Rajkissore}}
[[Category:Indian businesspeople]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian businesspeople]]
[[Category:Indian fraudsters]]
[[Category:Indian company founders]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Kolkata]]

Rajkissore Dutt - Revision history

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