Gurgaon: In a significant development, police apprehended a deputy manager of Punjab National Bank on Friday, marking the 20th arrest of a bank employee linked to aiding cybercriminals in the city since February of this year. The individual is accused of collaborating with cyber fraudsters to facilitate the opening of a bank account at his branch, which was subsequently used to conceal embezzled funds. His connection to the crime was discovered during an investigation into a case where a victim was defrauded of Rs 1.20 crore through a fraudulent investment scheme promising high returns.
On June 19, 2024, a complaint was lodged regarding the fraudulent activity involving approximately Rs 1.20 crore under the guise of stock market investments. Following this report, a case was registered at the city’s cybercrime police station, east, under the appropriate legal provisions.
ACP (cyber) Priyanshu Diwan stated that two suspects were arrested in connection with the case: Rohit Sharma from Aliganj in the Etah district and Vishwas Kumar from Kaimganj in the Farrukhabad district. During the interrogation, it was disclosed that Vishwas Kumar, the deputy manager, assisted in the creation of an account in the name of Rohit Sharma, utilizing falsified address documentation. Sharma subsequently provided this account to another accomplice for a cyber fraud operation amounting to Rs 1 lakh. To date, police have arrested a total of eight individuals in this case.
Since February, employees from various banks, including SBI, Kotak Mahindra, Yes Bank, RBL Bank, AU Small Finance Bank, Punjab National Bank, and ICICI Bank, have been detained for allegedly supplying bank accounts to cybercriminals in exchange for financial compensation. In a recent incident, a deputy manager from ICICI Bank was arrested in September for his role in a cybercrime that resulted in a loss exceeding Rs 25 lakh for the victim.
