Bank manager booked by Delhi Police for siphoning off customer's Rs 16 crore

New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) A private bank manager has been booked by the Delhi Police's Economic Offence Wing (EOW) for allegedly siphoning off a customer's entire deposited savings of Rs 16 crore on the pretext of getting her higher returns.  

According to police, the complainant, a customer, holding an account with ICICI Bank, accused branch manager Varun Vashisht of colluding with others and bank staff to deceitfully and dishonestly deceive her and her husband by persuading them to deposit and invest Rs 16 crore with the promise of substantial returns.

However, it is claimed that the accused subsequently misappropriated the entire sum without the couple's awareness.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, EOW, Vikram Porwal said during 2019 to 2023, the complainant and her husband invested their entire life savings, totaling Rs. 13.5 crore, into two accounts at ICICI Bank, with the majority of the amount being utilised for fixed deposits, which were expected to accrue to over Rs 16 crore by January 2024.

However, in January 2024, the complainant found that approximately Rs 12 crore had already been unlawfully withdrawn from her accounts by Branch Manager Vashisht, in collaboration with other implicated people and bank staff.

"The primary aspect of the offence occurred at the Vikaspuri Branch of ICICI Bank. It is alleged that Varun Vashisht forged documents to create 12 fake fixed deposit accounts in the complainant's name, subsequently misappropriating her hard-earned funds with the assistance of his associates," the police official said.

By January 2024, she realised that there were no genuine fixed deposits in her name and that there was a negative balance of Rs 2.73 crore in a counterfeit overdraft account opened under her name against a fixed deposit account that belonged to her. Furthermore, she found that numerous unauthorised transactions had been conducted in her other ICICI Bank accounts, with a remaining balance of only about Rs 50 lakh, despite total remittances amounting to around Rs 13.5 crore in these accounts.

Porwal said that based on the complaint a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code has been registered, The official said that Vashisht, in connivance with his accomplices and other bank officials, fraudulently and dishonestly duped the complainant and her husband for Rs 13.5 crore by representing an assured high rate of returns, but later siphoned off the entire money.

"It is alleged that the modus operandi of the accused persons essentially involved diverting the complainant’s funds to other beneficiaries/accused, withdrawing cash, forging bank statements and creating fake bank accounts in order to siphon off the funds.Investigation has been taken up to unearth the crime, and is in progress," the DCP added.

--IANS

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