While investigations are ongoing, this case serves as a cautionary tale for both customers and financial institutions to prioritize transparency and security in financial dealings
A significant financial scandal has come to light involving Axis Bank’s Begumpet branch in Hyderabad, where officials allegedly siphoned off Rs 6.5 crore from the account of an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) based in New South Wales, Australia, reported timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
The victim, Paritosh Upadhyay, had reportedly been waiting for two years for a resolution after initially reporting the fraudulent activity to the bank management.
-
In response to these allegations, Axis Bank issued a statement denying the charges, asserting that the transactions were conducted with Upadhyay’s full knowledge
-
The bank labeled the accusations of impersonation and breach of trust as baseless, further stating that it is fully cooperating with authorities to resolve the matter at the earliest
The accused individuals include former branch head Sridevi Raghu, senior partner Venkataramana Pasarla, service partner Surekha Saini, senior vice-president Hari Vijay, and others. Police have charged them with multiple offenses, including cheating by impersonation, fraudulent means, criminal breach of trust by a banker, and forgery—both manual and electronic.
According to Upadhyay, the accused bank officials forged his signatures to withdraw funds and used loose-leaf cheques to siphon off money from his premium account. Additionally, the funds were allegedly transferred without his written consent. Despite repeated follow-ups, Upadhyay claims that Axis Bank management failed to take any corrective action.
The incident underscores the importance of stringent internal controls in banking institutions to prevent misuse of customer trust and funds.
***********************************************************
Readers
These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken a small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
In these difficult times, running a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will make a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.
For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com