Bank Officials Arrested: Uncovering The Rs 2,500 Crore Cyber Fraud

Three bank officials have been arrested in Rajkot for their alleged involvement in a massive Rs 2,500 crore cyber fraud, highlighting the growing threat of financial crime.

Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points

Three bank officials from Yes Bank, Axis Bank, and HDFC Bank arrested in connection with a Rs 2,500 crore cyber fraud.
The bank officials allegedly assisted in opening fraudulent accounts and bypassing banking alerts for high-value transactions.
Accused facilitated illegal money transfers through hawala channels and used fake identities to open accounts.
Police have identified 85 bank accounts linked to the cyber fraud racket, with over 535 complaints filed.

Three officials of leading private banks were arrested for their alleged involvement in a Rs 2,500-crore cyber fraud racket in Gujarat's Rajkot district, bringing the number of those held so far in the case to 20, police said on Monday.

Bank Officials Involved In Cyber Fraud

Those arrested were identified as Maulik Kamani, a personal manager at Yes Bank in Padadhari; Kalpesh Dangariya, a manager at Axis Bank in Jamnagar; and Anurag Baldha, a personal banker with HDFC Bank, Rajkot (Rural) Superintendent of Police Vijay Gurjar said.

Dangariya and Baldha were previously employed with Yes Bank, he added.

Details Of The Alleged Cyber Fraud

Kamani allegedly assisted the earlier arrested accused in opening and managing suspicious accounts. He also helped bypass banking alerts triggered by high-value transactions by submitting additional documentation to keep accounts active, the SP said.

Kamani was allegedly involved in cash withdrawals that were later routed through hawala channels (illegal money transfer system), supported by digital evidence recovered from his mobile device, he added.

Dangariya is accused of facilitating the opening of fraudulent accounts using fake or misrepresented identities, police said.

He also assisted in structuring documentation, including Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC)-related papers, to prevent transactions from being flagged as suspicious, they said.

On the other hand, Baldha opened new accounts after verification and certification processes as part of the racket, Gurjar informed.

Investigation And Legal Proceedings

All the three accused are in police custody, while others are in jail under judicial remand, SP said.

So far, police have identified 85 bank accounts linked to the racket with 535 complaints filed on the cyber crime portal.

The total transaction linked to the cyber fraud exceeds Rs 2,500 crore, police said.

The earlier fraud amount was pegged by police at Rs 1,500 crore.

Under Indian law, charges related to cyber fraud and financial crimes can include sections of the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code, potentially leading to imprisonment and fines. The next stage of the investigation will likely involve tracing the flow of funds and identifying other individuals involved in the racket. Such large-scale cyber frauds raise concerns about the security protocols and internal controls within private banks.

Disclaimer: News content is sourced from the stated source. Headlines, summaries, section headers, and images are automatically generated or selected using AI/algorithms and may not always be fully accurate. Readers are advised to refer to the full article for complete context.