Noida: An office assistant at Punjab National Bank’s Sector Pi-1 branch in Greater Noida has emerged as a key suspect in an alleged fraud now under investigation by CBI, after CCTV footage showed her going to colleagues’ desks when they were away and operating their workstations.The bank suspects office assistant Deepanshi Sharma, who has worked at the branch since 2021, used officials’ login credentials to change customers’ details and transfer money without authorisation. In its complaint, the bank said she used the credentials of six officials, including branch manager Nisha Tirkey, senior customer service associate Sandeep Prakash Sharma, customer service associates Meenakshi and Satish Kumar, and Shailendra Kumar and Lovely Jain.The bank reviewed about a month of CCTV footage, which allegedly showed Sharma moving to a colleague’s workstation whenever the employee stepped away. In its complaint, the bank told CBI officials that Sharma was seen sitting at the vacant desk, looking at the screen and using the keyboard before leaving within seconds.The alleged fraud was not limited to savings accounts. According to the complaint, account holder Ashutosh Kumar Pathak and others were added as joint holders to several fixed deposits, the account details for receiving proceeds were changed, and the deposits were closed prematurely. Transaction vouchers were allegedly destroyed to conceal the transfers. The bank has reportedly submitted details of 49 fixed deposits.The irregularities surfaced on Sept 16, when customer Sangeeta visited the branch with her husband and daughter to update her passbook. She found three transactions she said she had neither authorised nor been informed about. Sharma allegedly told her they were legitimate. When the matter reached branch management, she claimed Sangeeta had agreed on the phone with her husband to transfer the money to Pathak for a property investment. The bank could not trace the corresponding vouchers, which prompted further scrutiny. Sharma then allegedly told officials the transfers were made on Pathak’s instructions and that she had used the credentials without the officials’ knowledge.Preliminary inquiry suggests a substantial portion of the money moved through at least six accounts in Jharkhand, Goa and Maharashtra before reaching an account belonging to Pathak, a resident of Aichhar. The complaint also names Pradeep Kumar, Membangti Devi, Priyanka Kumari, Shanti Devi, Shalini and Saroj Devi as beneficiaries. The role of each is yet to be established.Sharma is allegedly said to have told officials that Pathak had earlier cheated her father of around Rs 15-20 lakh and promised to help recover the money. She claimed she had also borrowed money and invested a further Rs 4-5 lakh on his assurances. While CBI is yet to probe the veracity of these statements, they do not establish why the transfers were made or whether money was diverted to recover earlier losses.While the CCTV review has thrown light on the modus operandi, key questions remain, including whether others at the bank were involved. Investigators said it is unlikely Sharma acted alone. They added that the appearance of an official’s user ID in a transaction record does not by itself show the official took part. CBI will have to determine whether credentials were accessed without permission, shared or used with someone else’s involvement, using core banking records, login histories and user activity logs.Investigators will also examine how an office assistant obtained access to multiple officials’ credentials, whether supervisory checks were bypassed and why missing vouchers and unusual transfers did not trigger earlier intervention. They are checking whether customers’ registered mobile numbers and email addresses were altered and alerts disabled, which could explain why some account holders received no notifications.Preliminary findings indicate the diversion may have begun way back in 2023, though the number of customers affected is yet to be established.CBI’s Ghaziabad Anti-Corruption Branch registered the case on the basis of the bank’s complaint, which names Sharma and the seven other beneficiary account holders. The bank has estimated the unauthorised withdrawals at Rs 10.24 crore, subject to reconciliation. Customers have alleged that nearly Rs 35 crore is missing from their savings accounts and fixed deposits. Many are farmers who deposited compensation received for land acquired for Noida International Airport project, now renamed as Narendra Modi International Airport in Jewar. Several complainants cited losses ranging from several lakh rupees to over Rs 1 crore. A few also told TOI that gold and silver jewellery in their lockers had been missing or replaced with fakes.Customers and representatives of farmers’ and social organisations, meanwhile, continued to protest outside the branch on Saturday. Beta 2 police station has received 36 complaints till Oct 30, including six from customers who approached them on Friday.In a statement issued on Oct 30, PNB said it was examining the matter on priority and cooperating with the authorities. It said it had returned Rs 43 lakh to three account holders and assured customers that all genuine claims would be honoured. The lead district manager also visited the branch on Friday.
