Bank manager nabbed from Nepal border for swindling Rs 12 crore

Mohali, February 24

Axis Bank, Bansepur, branch manager Gaurav Sharma (35) who was suspected of misappropriating around Rs 12 crore from 67 account holders has been arrested from near the Nepal border. He was produced in court and sent to police remand for five days.

Over five bank accounts that were being operated by him for six months to transfer the money have been frozen. The police have tracked about Rs 10 crore in different bank accounts, and the process to recover the money has been initiated.

Axis Bank officials remain tight-lipped over the case, and it has not been made clear about the steps the bank is taking to ensure that such incidents do not repeat. An account holder, on the condition of anonymity, said, “A bank takes a number of assets as safeguards when they give out loans to people. But they lack the same diligence when it comes to an account holders’ money.”

The police said on February 14, a complaint was received that the suspect used to change the registered phone number linked to the accounts so that transaction notifications did not reach the account holders.

The bank manager, a native of Pathankot, was posted in the branch for more than seven years. SP (headquarters) Tushar Gupta said, “He was operating two bank accounts in his name, one each in his father and mother’s name and one in his domestic help, Dinesh’s name. He had taken Rs 40 lakh from his father, a retired employee, saying he wanted to invest in a property. We have also recovered an SUV that he bought recently.”

Cashier Sujeet Kumar (30), a native of Himachal Pradesh (HP), was also arrested and sent to judicial custody.