Greater Noida, Oct. 30 -- The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case into an alleged Rs 10.24-crore fraud at Punjab National Bank's Sector Pi branch in Greater Noida, where a bank employee allegedly misused the login credentials of six colleagues to divert money from customers' accounts and fixed deposits without their consent. The suspected fraud, which may have continued for nearly three years, has left several customers struggling to establish the whereabouts of their savings, while some locker holders have also reported missing cash and jewellery. The actual extent of the losses remains unclear, with customers fearing that the amount could be considerably higher than the bank's preliminary estimate.
The CBI's Anti-Corruption Branch in Ghaziabad registered the FIR on Thursday, following a complaint by PNB Chief Manager Ajay Kumar Pandey on October 23. The case has been registered under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Information Technology Act. The accused include bank employee Deepanshi, private individual Ashutosh Pathak and other persons, along with unidentified public servants.
According to the bank's complaint, a preliminary internal enquiry found that Deepanshi allegedly used the user IDs and passwords of six other officials to execute unauthorised transactions through the Core Banking System. The credentials belonged to Senior Branch Manager Nisha Tirkey, Senior Customer Service Associate Sandeep Prakash Sharma, Customer Service Associates Meenakshi and Satish Kumar, Relationship Manager Shailendra Kumar and bank official Lovely Jain. Whether the credentials were misused without their knowledge or with their consent remains under investigation.
The complaint alleges that Deepanshi admitted during questioning that she transferred money from customers' accounts at Pathak's direction. Transaction vouchers were allegedly destroyed to conceal the activity, as the transfers had neither customer authorisation nor the required approvals from the officials concerned.
Investigators are also examining the movement of funds through several accounts. The bank's preliminary findings indicated that money was transferred directly to Pathak's account in some instances, while other transactions were routed through accounts belonging to Pradeep Kumar, Membangti Devi, Priyanka Kumari, Shanti Devi, Shalini and Saroj Devi before reaching him. Some amounts were allegedly withdrawn.
The suspected irregularities also involved fixed deposits. According to the complaint, Pathak and other individuals were added as joint holders to several FDs. The bank subsequently found that the accounts designated to receive the maturity proceeds had been changed and that deposits were prematurely closed. The money was then transferred to accounts linked to the suspects.
PNB submitted details of 49 fixed deposits in its complaint, with the listed amounts totalling Rs 7,023.77 lakh. Separately, the bank estimated the alleged unauthorised withdrawals at approximately Rs 10.24 crore. The relationship between these figures and the complete extent of the financial irregularities will require further examination.
The bank also alleged that mobile transaction alerts linked to some customers' accounts had been disabled or altered, preventing depositors from receiving immediate notifications of unauthorised transfers.
The complaint provides a possible account of how Deepanshi became associated with Pathak. She reportedly told bank officials that he had earlier cheated her father of Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh in a financial transaction. Pathak allegedly promised to help recover the money and persuaded her to invest additional funds. She subsequently took a loan and invested another Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, according to the complaint. Her precise role and the circumstances behind the alleged transactions are being investigated.
Meanwhile, customers have raised concerns that the losses may extend beyond the amount disclosed by the bank. Earlier reports had put the suspected fraud at nearly Rs 35 crore, but PNB has subsequently pegged it at Rs 10.24 crore.
Several account holders have visited the branch over the past four days seeking information and the return of their money. So far, the bank has reportedly refunded around Rs 43 lakh to three customers.
One account holder, Saroj, claimed that Rs 76 lakh was missing from the Rs 1.29 crore she had received as compensation for her land in Jewar and deposited at the branch. Another customer, Ishwar Singh, said he had placed Rs 1.16 crore in a fixed deposit in 2024 with an auto-renewal facility. He was subsequently informed that no money was available in his account.
Some customers who have received refunds have also alleged that they were paid only the principal amount of their fixed deposits, without the accumulated interest. Locker holders, meanwhile, have expressed concern over reports of missing cash and jewellery. They fear difficulties in establishing ownership because valuables kept in bank lockers are not routinely declared to the bank.
PNB Delhi-NCR Zonal Manager Rajesh Bhowmik said all employees working at the branch had either been suspended or transferred and that action would be taken against those found guilty.
"We will definitely take strong legal action against everyone found guilty. We will also ensure that the customers get their money back, along with interest. But the fraud isn't as big as what the media are saying," Bhowmik said.
He added that the number of affected customers could not yet be established and would become clearer after the investigation. The bank has initiated an internal process to determine employee accountability and said it would provide the CBI with relevant documents, electronic records and system logs.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.