SBI returns ₹8 crore to victims of Faridkot branch fraud

The State Bank of India (SI) has returned ₹8 crore to aggrieved account holders, who were victims of financial fraud perpetrated by the bank’s cashier Amit Dhingra, at its Sadiq branch in Faridkot district, officials said

The State Bank of India (SI) has returned ₹8 crore to aggrieved account holders, who were victims of financial fraud perpetrated by the bank’s cashier Amit Dhingra, at its Sadiq branch in Faridkot district, officials said.

The State Bank of India (SI) has returned ₹8 crore to aggrieved account holders, who were victims of financial fraud perpetrated by the bank’s cashier Amit Dhingra, at its Sadiq branch in Faridkot district, officials said.

SBI said it initially pegged the fraud amount to be close to ₹15 crore, but a scrutiny of records by the bank later pegged the bungling to ₹8 crore.

SBI regional manager Harpreet Singh on Wednesday said that initially the bank had received complaints claiming that the account holders had been cheated to the tune of ₹15 crore.

“About 200 individuals had come forward with complaints that a bank cashier, Amit Dhingra, had cheated them out of crores of rupees. The bank details of all complainants were analysed, and nearly 30 complaints were rejected due to a lack of evidence. We have returned about ₹8 crore to the aggrieved account holders with compensation,” he said.

The fraud first came to light on July 21 after a customer at the semi-urban branch detected large-scale discrepancies in his savings account.

Dhingra was arrested 10 days later, on July 31, in Mathura amid high drama. The accused threatened to jump off the ninth floor of the building when the police came to arrest him.

A first information report was lodged at Sadiq police station on the complaint of SBI’s deputy manager, Shashank Shekhar Arora.

Police investigation revealed Dhingra’s wife, Rupinder Kaur and a former friend, Abhishekh Kumar Gupta, were also involved in the crime.

Dhingra and Gupta are still in judicial custody, while the Punjab and Haryana high court granted bail to Rupinder on September 30.

On November 6, the additional chief judicial magistrate of Faridkot, Lavdeep Hundal, dismissed Rupinder’s plea to defreeze her bank account, reasoning that “in order to preserve and prove the chain of events and keeping in view the possibility of manipulation of funds to other bank accounts.”

According to police officials privy to the probe, Dhingra had issued forged fixed deposits (FDs) receipts to bank account holders while swindling funds from their savings accounts and kisan credit cards (KCCs).

Official sources said that the investigation revealed suspicious transactions amounting to ₹2.30 crore in the account of Rupinder, an employee of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).

“Her bank account was allegedly operated and controlled by the mastermind Dhingra, and the said account was linked to the prime accused’s mobile number. Gupta was arrested on August 7, and gold ornaments and other articles were recovered from him,” said an official source.

According to the SBI authorities, before the scam was exposed, Dhingra was transferred to another branch in Sadiq.

“But instead of joining his new place of posting, he kept on visiting the affected branch and gained access to the branch’s banking fraudulently. Immediately after getting a tip-off that customers were duped by Dhingra, a police complaint was lodged the same day,” bank officials, who didn’t wish to be named, said .