Citibank fraud: Gurgaon police question big clients of bank
Gurgaon police question big clients of Citibank. Police to question a top official from Hero Group. Police currently questioning two officials from Religare and Bonanza.
By Agencies |
GURGAON: Gurgaon police on Friday started questioning big clients of Citibank in the multi crore fraud case. Sources say that police is currently questioning two officials from Religare and Bonanza. Senior officials of the Gurgaon police are also likely to question a top official from Hero Group later on.
Shiv Raj Puri, the man who got away with Rs 300 crore from top Citibank clients, surrendered before a Gurgaon court on Thursday. He was immediately arrested by the Gurgaon police for fraud, criminal conspiracy, forgery and cheating.
The arrest, according to police, is just the beginning. They are now looking at a much bigger scam.
Over a period of 14 months and with the help of three accomplices, who are his relatives, Puri allegedly managed to siphon off Rs 300 crore from the clientele of the Gurgaon DLF Phase II branch of Citibank.
Police claim that two-thirds of the amount is from corporate houses, while the rest belong to individuals. "We have to now trace the money," said Gurgaon police chief SS Deswal. Deswal said a special team has zeroed in on 80 bank accounts for more leads.
Of these, 18 accounts are in Citibank alone. "Close to 60 accounts belong to private non-listed companies and brokerage firms in the NCR. We are identifying the credibility of these accounts," said Deswal.
Puri, according to the police, was dealing with some top corporate houses like Religare, Okaya and Hero Honda. Investments were also made through a brokerage firm Marting, which is owned by the accused's father.
According to sources, the bank has been pressuring Puri to return the investors' money. Puri had, in fact, promised the bank that he will return it soon. It was only after he went missing on December 24, they approached the police and lodged a formal complaint.
Puri's wife, Nidhi Uppal Puri, who held a managerial post in the same branch, was asked to go on leave by the bank. Puri is being questioned at the DLF II police station.
He obtained a forged letter head of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and issued a circular on this, inviting customers to deposit funds in these accounts.
A spokesperson for Citibank said that Puri has been working in the branch for the past seven years.
When asked about how the bank came to know about the fraud, the spokesperson said, "Earlier this month, a customer double checked with Citibank senior management about a particular scheme. Since such a scheme did not exist, we launched an investigation into the matter. We suspended Puri and informed the Reserve bank of India and Sebi. Our bank’s assistant vice president Binu Soman put in a formal complaint to the Gurgaon police. Other than the accounts that we have given to the police, no other accounts in the bank have been affected."
Shiv Raj Puri, the man who got away with Rs 300 crore from top Citibank clients, surrendered before a Gurgaon court on Thursday. He was immediately arrested by the Gurgaon police for fraud, criminal conspiracy, forgery and cheating.
The arrest, according to police, is just the beginning. They are now looking at a much bigger scam.
Over a period of 14 months and with the help of three accomplices, who are his relatives, Puri allegedly managed to siphon off Rs 300 crore from the clientele of the Gurgaon DLF Phase II branch of Citibank.
Police claim that two-thirds of the amount is from corporate houses, while the rest belong to individuals. "We have to now trace the money," said Gurgaon police chief SS Deswal. Deswal said a special team has zeroed in on 80 bank accounts for more leads.
Of these, 18 accounts are in Citibank alone. "Close to 60 accounts belong to private non-listed companies and brokerage firms in the NCR. We are identifying the credibility of these accounts," said Deswal.
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"According to the preliminary investigation around Rs 200 crore belongs to various corporate houses while another from Rs 100 crore was invested by the individuals."Puri, according to the police, was dealing with some top corporate houses like Religare, Okaya and Hero Honda. Investments were also made through a brokerage firm Marting, which is owned by the accused's father.
According to sources, the bank has been pressuring Puri to return the investors' money. Puri had, in fact, promised the bank that he will return it soon. It was only after he went missing on December 24, they approached the police and lodged a formal complaint.
Puri's wife, Nidhi Uppal Puri, who held a managerial post in the same branch, was asked to go on leave by the bank. Puri is being questioned at the DLF II police station.
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A senior police officer involved in the investigations in the case said, "From the investigations that the bank and we have conducted so far, it looks like Puri opened accounts for three people — Prem Nath, Sneha Prem Nath (his grandparents) and Deeksha Puri (his mother) in September 2009.He obtained a forged letter head of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and issued a circular on this, inviting customers to deposit funds in these accounts.
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In the circular, he promised returns as high as 18 per cent and managed to lure about 30 customers. After this, he transferred all the money to his personal account in the bank, before investing it in the stock market through the brokerage firm that his father owns.A spokesperson for Citibank said that Puri has been working in the branch for the past seven years.
When asked about how the bank came to know about the fraud, the spokesperson said, "Earlier this month, a customer double checked with Citibank senior management about a particular scheme. Since such a scheme did not exist, we launched an investigation into the matter. We suspended Puri and informed the Reserve bank of India and Sebi. Our bank’s assistant vice president Binu Soman put in a formal complaint to the Gurgaon police. Other than the accounts that we have given to the police, no other accounts in the bank have been affected."
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