Bank manager dupes couple of Rs 13 cr, booked

Samad Hoque

New Delhi, February 28

The Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Wednesday registered a case against a branch manager of ICICI Bank for allegedly duping a couple of Rs 13.5 crore.

According to the police, the complainant stated that Varun Vashisht, branch manager of ICICI Bank, in collusion with other accused and bank officials, deceived them into investing over Rs 13 crore with the promise of high returns. However, they later discovered that the entire amount had been siphoned off without their knowledge.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, EOW, Vikram K Porwal said, “It has been alleged that between 2019 and 2023, the complainant and her husband invested their entire life savings amounting to Rs 13.5 crore in two bank accounts at ICICI Bank. A significant portion of this amount was utilised as fixed deposits, which would have accrued to more than Rs 16 crore by January 2024.”

“However, in January 2024, she discovered that Rs 12 crore had already been misappropriated from her accounts by the branch manager. The primary part of the offence occurred at the Vikaspuri branch of ICICI Bank. Vashisht allegedly created 12 fake fixed deposit accounts in her name through forgery and misused her hard-earned money with the help of his accomplices,” added the DCP.

Police officials added that in January 2024, the complainant realised that there were no fixed deposits in her name and that there was a negative balance of around Rs. 2.73 crore in a fake overdraft account opened under her name, against a fixed deposit account that was held in her name.

They also mentioned that the complainant discovered a series of unauthorised transactions in her other ICICI Bank accounts, with a remaining balance of only about Rs 50 lakh, despite the total remittance in said accounts being approximately Rs 13.5 crore.

A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.