Rajasthan bank manager steals Rs 4.5 crore from 110 accounts, blows it on stocks

A relationship manager at ICICI Bank’s Kota branch in Rajasthan allegedly embezzled approximately Rs 4.58 crore from the accounts of 43 customers and invested the funds in the stock market, only to lose the entire amount.

According to police, the accused officer, Sakshi Gupta, illegally withdrew money from as many as 110 accounts, investing it in shares while cleverly evading detection by both bank officials and customers.

She allegedly changed the mobile numbers linked to the affected accounts to prevent transaction alerts from reaching the account holders. She also reportedly changed the PINs of several accounts.

The investigation revealed that Gupta primarily targeted elderly customers who were less familiar with digital and mobile banking. In one case, she used the account of an elderly woman as a “pool account,” transferring over Rs 3 crore through it.

She is also accused of prematurely closing fixed deposits belonging to 31 customers, syphoning off over Rs 1.34 crore, and taking a personal loan of Rs 3.40 lakh.

The entire amount was invested in the stock market, where she incurred a total loss, according to police.

The large-scale fraud came to light after a customer enquired about a fixed deposit of Rs 1.50 lakh and discovered that the amount had been transferred to another account without their authorisation.

Following the revelation, the branch manager lodged a complaint, leading to Gupta’s arrest on May 31. After being remanded for one day, she was sent to jail.

Senior police officer Dilip Saini said a thorough investigation is underway to identify any possible accomplices.

Meanwhile, ICICI Bank stated that it promptly reported the fraud to the police upon discovering the irregularities and that the employee has been suspended. The bank also said that “genuine claims of impacted customers have been settled”.