Chennai: Bank officials booked for swindling Rs 4.4 crore

CHENNAI: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) in Chennai has filed a case against the managing director of IndusInd Bank and the manager of its Anna Nagar branch after an NRI couple from the US allegedly lost Rs 4.36 crore through the unlawful closure of their fixed deposits. The complainants, Dr Vijay Janakiraman, a cardiologist in Virginia, and his wife Malliga, aged 77 and 70 respectively, had invested in deposits at the Anna Nagar branch. According to their Power of Attorney holder, M Ravi of T Nagar, the deposits were prematurely closed without the couples authorisation and the proceeds diverted to unknown accounts. He said neither he nor the account holders were informed by SMS or email, raising suspicions of forgery and deliberate misappropriation by the bank staff, the police said. Several appeals to the bank and even to the Reserve Bank of India allegedly went unanswered, the police said. Based on his complaint, the CCB registered a case under sections relating to cheating, forgery, and criminal breach of trust. The police are now probing the involvement of bank officials and working to trace the missing funds.