Alleged ₹35 crore fraud at PNB branch in Greater Noida; 5 employees suspended

According to reports by The Economic Times and Dainik Bhaskar, a serious case has emerged in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, where crores of rupees have disappeared from the accounts of depositors at a Punjab National Bank (PNB) branch. It is suspected that an amount between ₹30 to ₹35 crore has gone missing in this scam, leading to massive outrage among customers. Following the incident, a total of 5 employees, including the bank manager, have been suspended with immediate effect, and new staff has been deployed in their place.

The entire incident took place at the PNB branch located in Aichhar village, Greater Noida. As per a report by Dainik Bhaskar, several account holders have complained that the balance in their accounts has suddenly become zero. Those who had made Fixed Deposits (FD) now see nothing in their accounts. Similarly, those who had amounts like ₹3 to ₹4 lakh in their savings accounts now have only ₹16 to ₹20 thousand left. The worst impact has been on those who received large sums as government compensation; in some cases, the entire amount of ₹1 crore 29 thousand has disappeared from their accounts.

The scam came to light when Vineet Bhatti, a resident of Aichhar village and a transporter, visited the bank's Sector-Pi-1 branch on Tuesday. Vineet Bhatti runs a firm named 'Jai Shiv Transport' and has a current account in the bank. He stated that he wanted to invest in mutual funds, for which he had approached bank employees. Upon the instruction of the branch manager, he signed cheques and related brochures. However, instead of transferring the fund of ₹25 lakh to his savings account, it was sent to some other account. The bank stated that this second account also belonged to Vineet Bhatti, but Vineet clarified that it was not his account. Following this incident, he lodged a complaint at Beta-2 Kotwali, demanding an investigation into the bank employees and the recovery of his ₹25 lakh.

During Vineet Bhatti's protest, 5-6 other account holders present at the bank also raised their voices, revealing that money had disappeared from many other accounts as well. Outraged by the incident, customers gathered outside the bank and raised slogans of 'PNB Murdabad'. Victims showed their FD documents, in which the amounts now appeared as zero. Based on written complaints from 18 people, the police have registered an FIR at the Beta-2 police station, which falls under the jurisdiction of this branch.

The gravity of the scam becomes clearer upon hearing the accounts of the victims. An individual named Brijesh stated that his mother's land had been acquired for the Noida Airport, against which approximately ₹1 crore 29 lakh compensation was credited to his account. The family had withdrawn only ₹15 lakh from this amount, but now more than ₹1 crore is missing from their account and the balance shows as zero.

Sharing his tragic experience, an elderly customer named Dharmveer stated that he had ₹17.5 lakh in his account, but the bank had not allowed him to make any entries in the account for the last 2 years. He alleged that he had been subjected to a major fraud. At times the bank would close the account, and at other times they would claim the PAN card was faulty. Often, there was pressure to complete Aadhaar card KYC. When he went to the bank yesterday, the manager showed him that nothing was left in the account. Dharmveer further stated that his grandmother also has an account in this same bank containing ₹61 lakh, and he suspects that amount is also not safe. Additionally, he had an FD of ₹2.25 lakh.

An elderly woman named Santosh stated that she had received ₹1 crore 29 lakh as compensation, which the bank employees took. Both Santosh and her sister had received the same amount of compensation, from which after withdrawing a few rupees, ₹1 crore 18 lakh is now missing. An extremely emotional Santosh stated that her house is being built and her children live in a rented house. Her daughter was ill and the ₹32 lakh received at the time of her husband's retirement was spent on the daughter's treatment, yet the daughter passed away. Now she does not have a single rupee left and is completely ruined. When she went to the bank to enquire, the newly arrived employee said they knew nothing about this.

Saroj, Santosh's sister, stated that out of the ₹1 crore 29 lakh she received, she had withdrawn ₹10 lakh in cash and had ₹20 lakh transferred. When she went to withdraw more money, a female bank employee brushed her off, saying, 'There won't be that much amount, do it later'. Later, when she returned, the employee said that if a large amount was required, she would have to inform 2 days in advance. Saroj further added that the female bank employee even told her to leave, saying, 'If you come repeatedly, we will lose our jobs, now do not come here'.

Apart from this, an individual named Shrichand stated that he had an FD of ₹1.16 crore, the amount of which has been embezzled. According to the Dainik Bhaskar report, people from Biraundi, Chakrasenpur, and many surrounding villages have fallen victim to this fraud. The list of victims includes a person named Kartari, whose two FDs of ₹9.87 lakh and ₹6.89 lakh respectively were misappropriated. From Amichand's FD, ₹10.34 lakh was taken, more than ₹1 crore from Vijaypal's account, more than ₹1 crore from Subhash's account, and approximately ₹1.18 crore from Santosh's account has disappeared.

In this list, it has emerged that ₹88 lakh from Bijendra Singh's account and ₹25 lakh from his FD, approximately ₹90.43 lakh from Ranpal's account, approximately ₹40 lakh from Hanif Khan's account, approximately ₹1.07 crore from Sonu's account, ₹23 lakh from Jagdish's FD, and ₹80 lakh from Sunita's FD have disappeared.

Bank officials have assured account holders that their money will be returned to their accounts by Thursday. However, no official statement has been issued by the bank, nor has any clear information been provided regarding whether this amount was stolen from the bank, went missing, or if this is some form of digital loot. Currently, an investigation is underway into the employees who showed serious negligence and irregularities in the bank. Along with the police, the Anti-Corruption Team is also conducting a thorough investigation into the entire matter.