ICICI Bank staffer siphons ₹4.58 cr, loses it on stocks; bank refunds money

The accused accessed more than 110 accounts linked to 41 customers and redirected funds into stock investments, incurring heavy losses

Kota police have arrested a woman working as a relationship manager at ICICI Bank’s DCM branch in Rajasthan for defrauding customers of more than ₹4.58 crore.

 

The accused, Sakshi Gupta, allegedly carried out unauthorised transactions across over 110 accounts linked to 41 customers between 2020 and 2023.

 

The fraud took place at the Shriram Nagar branch in Kota’s DCM area and came to light on February 18 this year after Bank Manager Tarun Dadhich noticed discrepancies and ordered a full audit. 

“The interest of our customers are of paramount importance to us. Immediately upon discovering the fraudulent activity, we filed an FIR with the police," an ICICI Bank spokesperson told Business Standard, adding, "We have a zero-tolerance policy against any fraudulent activity and thus suspended the employee involved. We would like to reassure that genuine claims of impacted customers have been settled.”

 

 

OTPs diverted to family members 

Police said Gupta manipulated account details to prevent detection. She changed mobile numbers linked to several accounts, replacing them with those belonging to her relatives, thereby diverting transaction alerts and one-time passwords (OTPs) away from the original account holders.

 

“She systematically transferred funds, sometimes using the account of an elderly woman who had no knowledge of the activity as a pool account,” said Sub-Inspector Ibrahim of the Udhyog Nagar police station.

 

Investigators found that more than ₹300 crore had passed through a single account by February 2023.

 

Overdrafts, FDs misused 

Gupta reportedly activated overdraft facilities on 40 accounts without the consent of the account holders and prematurely closed fixed deposits (FDs) of 31 customers, diverting ₹1.34 crore in the process.

 

She also disbursed a fraudulent personal loan of ₹3.4 lakh and misused debit cards, PINs, and OTPs to carry out online and ATM transactions.

 

The funds were eventually redirected into stock market investments, where she incurred substantial losses, police said.

 

Arrest and legal proceedings 

Gupta was arrested on May 31 and placed under police remand for a day. She has since been presented before a court and remanded to judicial custody.

 

The investigation is ongoing.