ED attaches assets of ex-Punjab & Sind Bank officer who broke customers' FDs to play online games

New Delhi: A bank officer who allegedly siphoned off Rs 52.99 crore by fraudulently breaking customers’ fixed deposits to play online games is in for more trouble.

After the CBI chargesheeted him, the Enforcement Directorate has now attached assets worth Rs 2.56 crore in a money laundering case registered by the agency.

Bedanshu Shekhar Mishra, who was with the Punjab and Sind Bank, landed in trouble after his alleged misappropriation was detected in 2022 with the CBI first registering a case against him and his accomplice Shailesh Kumar Jaiswal.

Mishra allegedly used the money he defrauded to play online games like Monopoly, Poker, Teen Patti etc on different online gaming websites such as Goa247.live, Indibet.com and Betway, the ED said on Sunday.

Mishra allegedly misused his official position and carried out fraudulent transactions by using IDs’ of himself and other staff unauthorisedly to break the customers’ FDs in 2021 and 2022. He was posted at the Punjab and Sind Bank branch in Khalsa College in Delhi University's North Campus.

“The Proceed of Crime (POC) generated out…was mainly transferred by him to the online gaming companies by routing through various current accounts of different business entities,” the ED said.

“It is also gathered that these accounts in which POC was transferred by Mishra were borrowed by the owners of the gaming website/companies on commission basis. Further investigation is under progress,” it added.

In March last year, the CBI had chargesheeted him while claiming that he had admitted to the bank during enquiry that he used IDs of colleagues to make illegal transfers to pay for online gaming.

The CBI claimed that Mishra had “illegally and without any authority” encashed 32 fixed deposits belonging to Khalsa College, amounting to Rs 48.76 crore. He also allegedly siphoned off Rs 6.74 crore from various Mudra Loan accounts.

Mishra had allegedly used the ID allotted to the officer of Khalsa College Branch for transferring the funds into 29 bank accounts.

The CBI investigations had claimed that between May and September 2022, Mishra regularly played online games and transferred Rs 10.81 crore into the four accounts provided by the gaming sites. (ENDS)