ICICI Bank Fraud: Branch Manager and Aides Pull Off Rs 2.5 Crore Heist To Meet Business Targets
It¡¯s a pretty rough world that we are living in. The stress of achieving targets can be all consuming. This incident is a reflection of just that but the enormity of it has left many shocked.?
A branch manager at ICICI Bank Dhariyawad In Rajasthan¡¯s Pratapgarh district, along with accomplices, successfully met their performance targets over a five-year period through illicit means. Their method involved withdrawing funds from customers' accounts within the branch located in Rajasthan.?
How Did The Bank Manager And His Fellow Employees Commit The Embezzlement??
According to an exclusive report of Economic Times, they purportedly withdrew the funds from customers¡¯ accounts to create a false appearance of opening new fixed deposits, current accounts, and savings accounts.
The story took a fresh turn when someone found out about this and started blackmailing the officials.?Consequently, the branch manager and his associates withdrew more money from customers' bank accounts to make payments to the Udaipur-based blackmailer.
Rajasthan Police officials stated that a sum of Rs 2.5 crore was paid to the individual as hush money.
The ICICI Bank Officials Carried Out This Heist Due To Pressure Of Meeting Performance Targets?
As reported by ET, Superintendent of police, Pratapgarh, Amit Kumar disclosed that the initial investigation indicated that the branch manager and his associates orchestrated the scheme under the pressure of meeting performance targets. They generated overdrafts against fixed deposits and utilized the funds to initiate new current, savings, and FD accounts, employing a practice known as 'Entry and Reverse Entry' in banking terminology.
The modus operandi involved closing the newly established accounts after a few days, and the funds getting redirected back into the original accounts. This operation had been ongoing for several years with no proper records being maintained.?
The branch employees were matching and reversing the transactions without any knowledge about the scam being run, as per the report.
ICICI Issues Official Statement Reassuring The Customers
An ICICI Bank spokesperson was quoted in this media report as saying, ¡°There will be no financial loss to genuine customers. Further, the employee, who was prima facie involved, has been suspended pending further investigation. We have also filed a complaint with police and are co-operating in their investigation."
