Frauds by bank employees have become global problem, says High Court

The high court has upheld the dismissal of a bank employee who admitted to having withdrawn money from the account of a customer.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum said that any fraud, however negligible, associated with a financial institution had to be viewed very seriously and dealt with an iron hand.

The appeal was filed by the bank employee, challenging the order of the single judge of the court.

The single judge had set aside the order passed by the central government industrial tribunal-cum-labour court on January 19, 2007, and restored the penalty of dismissal from service imposed by the bank.

The employee had opened an SB account for a customer he knew. He would also collect cash from the customer and credit it into the savings account. Sometime later, the customer filed a complaint with the bank stating that the employee had been withdrawing money from his savings account.

The single judge culled out the written submissions in the charge sheet wherein the employee had admitted that he was under financial distress and was compelled to fraudulently withdraw from the savings account.

The employee had also issued forged fixed deposit receipts. The single judge found that the conclusion arrived at by the tribunal is contrary to the clinching evidence on record.

Upholding the order, the bench noted that frauds by bank employees had now become a global problem.

The bench said there has to be zero tolerance as a fraudulent employee constitutes an attack against the organization from within, by the very people who are entrusted with protecting its assets and resources.

“Therefore, any fraud, however negligible, associated with a financial institution has to be viewed very seriously and dealt with an iron hand,” the bench
said.

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