ICICI Bank moves Economic Offences Wing to probe Rs 16-crore alleged fraud case

ICICI Bank

Mumbai-headquartered ICICI Bank has clarified that it has launched a complaint with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi to look into allegations raised by a customer of a Rs 16-crore fraud in her account by a branch manager.

"As an aggrieved party, we have lodged a complaint with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police for a thorough investigation into the matter which appears to be much more than meets the eye. We are extending full co-operation to the police investigation," the bank told Moneycontrol.

Shveta Sharma, a resident of Gurugram, filed a complained with the Economic Offences Wing in Delhi on January 29, alleging that an ICICI Bank official moved her account from old Gurgaon to Vikaspuri without her consent and siphoned off money from there. She raised a claim of Rs 16 crore from the bank in her complaint.

The branch manager of the Vikaspuri Branch was subsequently suspended by ICICI Bank, though Sharma's complaint had named 11 bank officials who had interacted with her.

ICICI Bank denied going into details on the ongoing investigation. "We refrain from commenting on the ongoing investigation. However, in response to the insinuations raised in your queries, which you got from the customer, we would like to draw your attention to the following points," the bank told Moneycontrol, listing out its argument.

The mobile number and email ID of her account were changed with the customer’s knowledge, it said. "Our records indicate that notifications regarding both the changes were sent to her original mobile number and email address which were registered with the bank."

ICICI Bank added that they have communicated to the customer that the bank is ready to transfer a sum of Rs 9.27 crore as the disputed amount but she wouldn't be able to to use this money until the probe is over.

The bank mentioned that Sharma had liquidated a fixed deposit of Rs 2 crore to her account.

Asked about the money trail, Sharma said that she had transferred the money from her US bank account to the ICICI Bank account and wanted ICICI Bank to invest it in fixed deposits (FDs).

"ICICI Bank is trying to blame the victim here. Clearly they have committed fraud with wilful intent and this seems to be a systemic problem. My case is not the only one, this is a repeated failure of their internal audit, control, and compliance functions. Bank can't outsource audit and control functions to their clients. It's their failure and it's their brand that is suffering reputational damage, "Sharma told Moneycontrol.

She said Varun Vashisth has accepted in writing in front of the police that he had created fake email ID and number. Moneycontrol has seen the confession letter written in long hand but could not independently verify its authentication.

"I simply want to do a solution with the bank. Even though I know that the process is long with EOW and want my justice," Sharma said.