CUTTACK: The Cyber Crime unit of the Crime Branch on Saturday arrested the relationship manager of Axis Bank, Badambadi branch for allegedly duping a senior citizen of Rs 2.3 crore.
The accused was identified as 39-year-old Khirod Nayak of Samanta Sahi. On November 28, the victim filed a complaint alleging withdrawal of Rs 2.3 crore from her fixed deposit (FD) account and transfer of the money to the account of one Sumitra Khuntia at HDFC bank without her knowledge.
CB sources said after the death of the victim’s husband, the bank had assigned Nayak as her relationship manager. However, since she was not very aware of the banking procedures, the elderly lady was mostly dependent on Nayak. The accused regularly visited the woman’s house and used her mobile phone to provide quarterly bank account statements.
On repeated insistence from Nayak, the victim had diverted money from her savings bank account to FD to get more returns. For the purpose, Nayak used to often obtain her signatures. Investigation revealed, Nayak had opened an OD account in the victim’s name without her knowledge.
The fraud came to light when the loan department of the bank informed the victim that an OD loan had been taken in her name and the money transferred to Khuntia’s account at HDFC bank. When she reached the bank for enquiry, the victim further came to know that her registered mobile number had been changed owing to which she was unaware of the transactions.
“Nayak took control of the access of the account by changing the registered mobile number. He transferred the money to Khuntia’s account at HDFC from where the sum was further transferred to his other accounts,” said a CB officer. On verification, it was found that the accused had utilised the money towards buying insurance policies in the names of people who were known to him.
While Rs 20 lakh cash has been frozen in one of his accounts with ICICI Bank, efforts are underway to recover the remaining sum and nab the others involved in the fraud, the CB officer said. Around 32 ATM cards, five passbooks, 37 cheque books, two mobile phones, SIM cards, a laptop, signed cheques etc., have been seized from the accused, he informed.