Citi officials violated key banking rules?

In the alleged Rs 400-crore fraud by a senior employee at a Gurgaon branch of Citibank, the Reserve Bank of India is probing whether there have been any violation of norms related to customer verification and monitoring of accounts. HT reports.

In the alleged Rs 400-crore fraud by a senior employee at a Gurgaon branch of Citibank, the Reserve Bank of India is probing whether there have been any violation of norms related to customer verification and monitoring of accounts.

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The initial probe by the banking regulator has indicated transactions totalling hundreds of crores of rupees in about a dozen Citibank accounts, presumably operated by Shivraj Puri, the main accused of the case, sources said.

Some of these accounts belonged to those Citibank clients who have fallen victim to the fraud, while others could have been opened by Puri himself in the names of his relatives or fictitious people.

RBI is probing whether Citibank allowed these accounts to be opened after following the mandatory KYC (Know Your Customer) norms.

These norms make it mandatory for verification of customer details such as valid identity and residence proof with documents like PAN card, Passport and utility bills. The norms also require the bank to physically verify the identity and address of the customers.

Besides, RBI is also probing whether Citibank followed the STR (Suspicious Transaction Reporting) norms, which requires a bank to immediately inform regulatory agencies about unusual transactions, sources said.