How did ICICI employee use elderly woman’s account to ‘pool’ & steal ₹4.58 crore from FDs?
In a shocking case of financial fraud, an ICICI Bank employee has been accused of stealing ₹4.58 crore from fixed deposits (FDs) of several customers and investing the money in stocks. The employee, identified as Sakshi Gupta, allegedly used an elderly woman’s account as a “pool account” to siphon off the funds. This heinous crime has raised questions about the security measures in place at the bank and the lack of oversight that allowed such a massive fraud to take place.
According to a report by NDTV, Sakshi Gupta, a senior executive at ICICI Bank, stole the funds by linking her family members’ phone numbers to the customer accounts. She then used her system to get one-time passwords (OTPs) and transferred some of the funds to the elderly woman’s account, which she used as a “pool account”. The rest of the funds were allegedly invested in stocks.
The fraud was uncovered after an investigation by the bank’s internal audit team, which found that Gupta had illegally activated overdraft facilities on 40 accounts. The bank has since suspended Gupta and handed over the case to the police.
The modus operandi of the fraud is both sophisticated and disturbing. Gupta, who was responsible for managing customer accounts, used her position to access sensitive information and steal the funds. She then used the elderly woman’s account as a conduit to transfer the stolen funds, making it appear as if the money was being transferred normally.
The elderly woman, who has not been named, was reportedly unaware of the illegal transactions that were taking place in her account. It is not clear how Gupta managed to convince her to make her account available for the fraud or whether she was coerced or complicit in the scheme.
The ICICI Bank has been criticized for its lack of oversight and security measures. How could an employee with such access to sensitive information and systems be able to carry out such a massive fraud without being detected? The bank’s internal audit team has been criticized for not picking up on the fraud earlier, and it is clear that there were significant failures in the bank’s security and risk management processes.
The consequences of this fraud are far-reaching. The customers who had their funds stolen will likely suffer significant financial losses, and the bank’s reputation has been tarnished by this incident. The bank will also face regulatory scrutiny and fines for its failure to prevent the fraud.
This incident highlights the importance of robust security measures in the banking industry. Banks must ensure that their systems are secure and that employees are not able to access sensitive information without proper authorization. The use of advanced technology, including biometric authentication and AI-powered fraud detection, can help to prevent such frauds in the future.
The incident also raises questions about the training and supervision of bank employees. How could an employee with such access to sensitive information and systems be able to carry out such a massive fraud without being detected? The bank must take steps to ensure that its employees are properly trained and supervised to prevent such incidents in the future.
In conclusion, the case of Sakshi Gupta, the ICICI Bank employee who stole ₹4.58 crore from FDs and invested the money in stocks, is a shocking example of financial fraud. The use of an elderly woman’s account as a “pool account” to siphon off the funds is both sophisticated and disturbing. The incident highlights the importance of robust security measures in the banking industry and the need for banks to ensure that their systems are secure and that employees are properly trained and supervised.
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