Ludhiana: Case against banker for duping NRI couple of ₹16.4 lakh

According to the victim, in 2008 she and her husband had opened bank accounts in Centurion Bank at Police Lines before leaving for Finland

A banker has been booked for siphoning off ₹16.43 lakh in cash from the accounts of an NRI woman and her husband. The accused, identified as Rajnish Sharma of Mandeep Nagar, has allegedly siphoned off ₹16.43 lakh from the couple’s bank accounts. The FIR was lodged on the complaint of Sunita Rani, who currently resides in Finland with her husband Ram Saroop. The FIR has been lodged after 8 years of investigation.

A banker has been booked for siphoning off ₹16.43 lakh in cash from the accounts of an NRI couple. (ht)

According to the victim, in 2008 she and her husband had opened bank accounts in Centurion Bank at Police Lines before leaving for Finland. They used to deposit money in these accounts from abroad. Upon their return to India in 2010, they discovered that the bank had been converted into HDFC Bank. When they approached the bank to withdraw the funds for building a new home, they were shocked to find that their accounts had zero balance. They also learned that Rajnish Sharma, who was the bank’s manager at the time, had left his position and joined another bank in Khanna.

The couple traveled to Khanna to confront Rajnish, hoping he would return their money. However, the accused refused to cooperate. Initially, the couple approached the NRI wing of Ludhiana Police, where the accused promised to repay the money but requested for some time. Rajnish failed to fulfil his promise following which Sunita filed a complaint with the police on June 30, 2015. The case was subsequently handed over to the Economic Offences Wing for investigation.

ASI Krishan Lal, the investigating officer, stated that during the probe, it was discovered that Rajnish had forged the couple’s signatures to withdraw the funds. He also revealed that the accused had invested the stolen money in at least nine insurance policies, although it is yet to be determined if the policy holders were genuine or not.

A case has been registered against Rajnish under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant), 420 (punishment for cheating), 465 (punishment for forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), and 471 (using as genuine a forged document). A hunt is on for the arrest of the accused.