"Multiple Unauthorised Debits": CBI Case In Greater Noida PNB Fraud Case

The CBI has registered a case regarding the alleged diversion of funds worth crores of rupees belonging to various savings and fixed deposit account holders of a Punjab National Bank (PNB) branch in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

The federal probe agency's Anti-Corruption Bureau (Ghaziabad) filed the FIR on Thursday after taking cognisance of a written complaint sent to it on October 23 by the Chief Manager of PNB's Noida Circle against an employee of the 'Sector Pi' branch and some other account holders.

The CBI named the branch's office assistant, Deepanshi, an account holder, Ashutosh Pathak, and unknown public and private persons as accused under various sections of the BNS related to criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, cheating, falsification of accounts, and criminal misconduct by public servants.

The FIR also includes sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Information Technology (IT) Act.

PNB, in its complaint, has said the alleged fraud came to light after an account holder approached the branch head on September 16 regarding three doubtful debit transactions in her account.

It said the branch has so far identified an "unauthorised" debit of Rs 10.24 crore from various customer accounts, which the accused allegedly siphoned off over the last three years. PNB complaint said a reconciliation exercise was underway at the branch to ascertain the exact amount reportedly defrauded.

PNB on Thursday assured customers that it would honour all genuine claims, saying it had settled three claims amounting to Rs 43 lakh at the branch. It said it was fully cooperating with the concerned authorities and taking necessary steps to address the concerns of affected customers.

In the complaint sent to the CBI, the bank said when the branch head questioned Deepanshi about the suspicious transactions, she "broke down and admitted that the transactions were carried out on the instructions of one of the account holders, Ashutosh Pathak...who is known to her."

"Review of system logs, user activity records and transactions prima facie revealed that multiple unauthorised transactions had been carried out in customer accounts over a substantial period of time by misusing CBS (core banking solution) user IDs belonging to different branch officials, by Deepanshi," the PNB complaint, added in the CBI FIR, stated.

Preliminary findings indicate unauthorised use of banking credentials, manipulation of customer account particulars, diversion of customer funds, alteration of FDR (fixed deposit receipts) details, premature closure of FDRs, and routing of proceeds through beneficiary accounts.

The Noida Police also filed an FIR in the case.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)