Three employees of a private bank in Anna Nagar, Chennai have been arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB). The accused are Deputy Manager Venugopal (50), Cashier Kulothungan (49) and Cashier Dhanasekaran (41). They allegedly embezzled over ₹8 crore from customer accounts by forging documents over several years.
The fraud happened over five years, from 2015 to 2020 but came to light recently when a relative of an NRI couple based in the United States discovered suspicious withdrawals. A relative of the NRI couple reviewed their bank accounts and noticed that ₹1.43 crore had been illegally withdrawn from the couple’s NRE and NRO accounts. This triggered suspicion and prompted a complaint or inquiry.
After this discovery, the case was handed over to the Central Crime Branch (CCB), specifically its Bank Fraud Investigation Wing (BFIW). During their investigation, the CCB uncovered that the fraud was not limited to one account but the victims included multiple customers. The bank employees allegedly forged documents, including cheques, and illegally withdrew money from customer accounts, including fixed deposits. This led to the total fraud amount exceeding ₹8 crore. The arrests occurred shortly after this discovery and the subsequent CCB investigation.
This case is about a planned fraud that went on for five years. It shows that the bank’s had serious problems with checking and keeping track of cheque transactions. One of the people involved was a deputy manager, which means someone in a high position misused their power and access to the bank’s systems. This shows that the fraud happened from inside the bank, by people who were trusted.