Look-out notice issued against relationship manager

Multi-crore scandal at Citibank Gurgaon

Look-out notice issued against relationship manager

A Gurgaon branch of Citibank has emerged as the epicentre of a multi-crore fake fixed deposit racket. Shivraj Puri" a relationship manager at the DLF Phase II branch of the bank" and three others" have been accused of diverting hundreds of crores of rupees from the accounts of a clutch of high-net-worth individual and corporate clients over the last 12-14 months.

Shivraj created accounts for three other persons - Premnath" Sheela and Deeksha - in the same bank. They are probably his relatives. Then he issued a circular on a forged letter pad of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and asked some customers to deposit the funds in these three fake accounts.

He lured them by saying that it would give them the highest possible returns. Later he transferred all money from these fake accounts to his account"" said a senior police officer.

Citibank has suspended Puri and reported the alleged fraud to the banking and capital markets regulator. Puri has been with Citibank for seven years now.

u00a0"We have registered a case of cheating" fraud and criminal conspiracy against Shivraj Puri. We are also exploring other aspects of this case. Some other employees of the bank may also be involved"" the officer added.

"This issue does not impact other accounts" transactions or customers of the Bank. Subsequent to our complaint naming the involved employee and other external individuals who appear to be perpetrators in these suspicious transactions the Gurgaon police has registered an FIR"" said a Citibank spokesperson.

"We recently initiated an investigation into a certain set of suspicious transactions based on documents forged by an employee involving a few accounts in our Gurgaon branch. We immediately reported the matter to all
the relevant regulatory and law enforcement authorities.

Identified suspicious transactions have been isolated and we are providing full assistance to the authorities in their investigations"" the spokesperson added.

Gurgaon Police have registered a case under the section 420" 467" 471 and 120 b of Indian Penal Code and have alerted other agencies to seize his accounts. Airports across the country have also been alerted.

Bank on no one

Create a culture of control. Accept that it is possible that every employee could commit fraud.
Don't leave important financial tasks to one person. Make sure two or more people are involved so as to ensure proper control.
Ask a lot of questions. Check the authenticity of the schemes and the person who is selling you the investment plans.

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