How Bengaluru customer lost crores after being misled by bank relationship manager

The fraud was discovered after Patricia Prabhu, who has been a customer of the bank since 2014, handed over three cheques to Kumar for creating fixed deposits.

Published on: Nov 15, 2025, 20:37:56 IST

By HT News Desk

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A relationship manager of a private bank allegedly illegally transferred over ₹2.7 crore from a long-standing customer in Bengaluru. Kumar, a resident of RT Nagar, is accused of defrauding a client between May 12 and November 6.

The cheques were for ₹2 crore, ₹50 lakh, and ₹25 lakh. (Unsplash )

The fraud was discovered after Patricia Prabhu, who has been a customer of the bank since 2014, handed over three cheques to Kumar for creating fixed deposits. The cheques were for ₹2 crore, ₹50 lakh, and ₹25 lakh. While collecting them, Kumar allegedly asked Prabhu to sign RTGS forms, falsely claiming that they were part of the fixed deposit process, as per a report by The Times of India.

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Instead of depositing the funds into Prabhu’s fixed deposit accounts, Kumar is said to have transferred the money to accounts of a relative and a friend through RTGS. An internal investigation revealed that ₹2 crore was sent on May 12 to an account in the name of Kruti Jai Mitra, ₹50 lakh on October 31 to the same account, and ₹25 lakh to an account belonging to Jeetika Upasana. The latter two accounts are with another private bank.

A police officer said the transactions were legally executed on paper but fraudulent in nature, as the customer had not authorised transfers to other accounts.

A case has been registered under BNS Section 318 (cheating) at Ulsoor police station on November 10.

In a separate news, a Bengaluru resident has reportedly fallen victim to a massive online trading fraud, losing over ₹80 lakh in the process.

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According to the First Information Report (FIR), the victim, an ICICI Bank account holder, came across a firm named Aastha Credit & Securities Pvt Ltd online, said a report by the NDTV. Through this platform, he was introduced to two individuals who identified themselves as Aarav Gupta and Meena Joshi.

The ordeal began on September 17, when he was unexpectedly added to a WhatsApp group titled “9015 Aastha VIP Moksha Circle.” Members of the group enthusiastically promoted an app called ACS Trade, claiming it offered quick and substantial profits through stock market trading, said the report.

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