2 housekeeping staff booked after duping bank of Rs 1.29 crore using dead customer’s A/C

The accused, after updating the KYC, transferred the amount into 10 other bank accounts via net banking. Representation pic

The Goregaon police on Wednesday booked two housekeeping staff of a nationalised bank for allegedly duping the bank of Rs 1.29 crore by fraudulently updating the KYC (Know your customer) details of a customer who had died eight years ago. Both the accused are absconding.

The incident came into light in July 2021 when a probe by the fraud monitoring team from Kolkata revealed that the KYC of an account holder from Kolkata, who had died 7 years ago was updated from the bank's Goregaon branch office and around Rs 1.29 crore transferred into various bank accounts in Mumbai. On checking the CCTV footage, the Goregaon bank branch found that two housekeeping staff - Dilshad Khan and Altamash - were involved in the crime. The bank branch manager then approached the police and submitted a written complaint in this regard to the Goregaon police in January 2022.

According to the police, the duo, after updating the KYC, transferred the amount into 10 other bank accounts via net banking till October 2021, and later quit their jobs. The Goregaon police have registered a case against the two and are looking for them. "We have registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and are searching for the absconding accused," the officer said. "We have begun a manhunt for Khan and his accomplice who managed to transfer the amount by just using net banking," said another police officer from Goregaon police station.

Background
The crime came to light after the vigilance department found that the customer based in Kolkata had requested a KYC update and to change the mobile number. The update application was received in June 2021, while the account holder Dr Hirendra Kumar Pal had died in Kolkata in October 2014. The duo used the login id and password of other employees of the bank and updated the KYC. They also approved the change of the mobile number registered with the bank, said an officer.

2020 January
When a written complaint was submitted at Goregaon police station