Bengaluru police have launched criminal investigations against the branch manager and the relationship manager of IDBI Bank, Mission Road, over the "illegal" investment of customer funds in LIC bonds.
The relationship manager has been arrested for allegedly transferring a total of Rs 5.36 crore from customers' accounts and investing it in LIC bonds.
Sampangiram Nagar police arrested 34-year-old Sajila Gurumoorthy, the relationship manager, after receiving a complaint on January 5, 2023, from Sangameshwar S N, a deputy general manager at the bank.
Sajila, who hails from Kanyakumari and lives in Bharathinagar near Hunasemarenahalli, is accused of "illegally" transferring Rs 4.925 crore from customers' accounts on December 23, 2022, and investing it in LIC bonds. In the past, she "illegally" transferred Rs 1.44 crore from customers' accounts, according to the complaint.
Police booked Sajila under IPC sections related to criminal breach of trust and cheating, and arrested her. The 3rd ACMM court has remanded her in judicial custody.
The matter didn't end there.
Police investigations show that Sajila transferred the money without the customers' consent to meet the targets set by the bank authorities.
"She took the money out of customers' accounts, created LIC bonds in other customers' names, surrendered the bonds, and credited the money back into the customers' accounts. She did this without the customers' consent," said a police officer overseeing the investigation. "She did all this to meet her targets."
According to the officer, the police complaint should ideally have been filed by the aggrieved customers but the bank's deputy general manager lodged it instead to "save the bank's reputation".
Police have listed the branch manager as accused number 2 and are carrying out further investigations.
IDBI is a development finance institution. LIC holds a 49.24% shareholding in it and the union government 45.88%.
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