Kota: ICICI Bank RM funnels Rs 4.58 cr from customer accounts, loses most of it in stocks
Kota, Jun 8 (PTI): A relationship manager in an ICICI bank branch in Kota allegedly swindled around Rs 4.58 crore from customers' accounts only to lose the lot of it in the stock market, police on Friday said.
She was arrested last week and is currently under judicial custody, they said.
The accused, Sakshi Gupta, was posted as a relationship manager at ICICI Bank's DCM branch.
Police said she had been pilfering from more than 110 accounts belonging to 41 customers for around two and a half years.
She allegedly invested these amounts in the stock market and lost a large chunk of it, they said.
Branch manager Tarun Dadich filed a complaint against her at the Udhyog Nagar Police Station on February 18, accusing her of siphoning Rs 4.58 crore from customer accounts.
Based on the complaint, Gupta, who worked at the branch from 2020 to 2023, was arrested on May 31.
During the investigation, it was revealed that she changed the mobile numbers linked with several accounts to her relatives' numbers, ensuring that transaction alerts and OTPs were not received by the real account holders.
Sub Inspector Ibrahim said Gupta systematically transferred funds to different accounts, in some cases using an elderly woman's account, who was unaware of the activity, as a "pool account."
By February 15, 2023, she had transferred more than Rs 3 crore to this account alone, he said.
He alleged that Gupta misused debit cards, PINs, and OTPs for these transactions, and even activated overdraft facilities on 40 accounts without consent.
She prematurely closed fixed deposits of 31 customers' accounts, funnelling over Rs 1.34 crore. She also took out a personal loan of Rs 3.40 lakh.
Police said that many transactions were conducted using Insta Kiosk installations and various digital banking platforms, with at least four customers' debit cards used for ATM and internet banking.
Proceeds from these activities were sent to demat accounts as part of the attempted cover-up.
Gupta was arrested from her parental home in Chittorgarh district's Rawatbhata.
She was sent to judicial custody after a one-day remand for interrogation, SI Ibrahim said.
Meanwhile, an ICICI Bank spokesperson, in a press note, said, "The interests of our customers are of paramount importance to us. Immediately upon discovering the fraudulent activity, we filed an FIR with the police.
"We have a zero-tolerance policy against any fraudulent activity and thus suspended the employee involved. We would like to reassure that genuine claims of impacted customers have been settled."
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Man killed in flat ceiling plaster crash, wife and son hurt
Thane (PTI): A 45-year-old man was killed, and his wife and son were injured when a portion of plaster from the ceiling collapsed in their flat in a seven-storey building in Thane on Saturday, officials said.
Chief of the Regional Disaster Management Cell, Yasin Tadvi, said the 16-year-old building is not listed in the "dangerous" category.
"The incident occurred in Karumdev Society at about 3 am. The plaster of the hall in a flat on the terrace floor suddenly fell while the occupants were asleep", he said.
Of the four people who were inside the room, two suffered minor injuries and were discharged after primary treatment, Tadvi stated.
The injured persons were identified as Arpita More (42), who suffered minor head injuries, and her son Arush More (16), who sustained injuries to both legs.
Manoj More (45), who sustained chest injuries, died during treatment at a private hospital.
