Ten days after opening an account and depositing amount as per procedure, transaction fails to reflect in his balance; inquiry later reveals that bank's executive sales manager tampered with receipt and spent the cash instead
A driver received the shock of his life when he discovered that the money he had deposited in his newly-opened bank account had still not been added to his balance, 10 days after the transaction. Sagar Singh had paid Rs 10,000 as the minimum balance required, but the money never reached his account.
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Money matters: Sagar Singh, holding the receipt and chequebook that he received from the bank. Pic/ Sameer Markande
Singh had approached IndusInd Bank’s Kharghar branch for opening a new savings account on August 9. He met executive sales manager Kishor Yadav who processed his request for a new account and collected Rs 10,000 as a deposit. Singh was given a counterfoil of the receipt, which bore a stamp, other than what was supposed to be used officially.
Singh’s employer Naresh Punjabi was alerted when he saw the alternate stamp on the receipt and they immediately rushed to the bank. The branch manager noted that the stamp on the receipt was not the appropriate one and he immediately demanded an explanation from Yadav, who admitted to misusing the money. Following this, Punjabi informed the branch manager that he would file an FIR with Kharghar police station regarding the incident.
Speaking to MiD DAY, Singh said, “When I went to open an account on August 9, Yadav asked me to pay Rs 10,000 as the deposit and he provided me with a receipt. I had no knowledge about the stamp being fake and that I was supposed to pay the deposit at the cash counter and not hand it over to Yadav. When I called the branch on August 18 inquiring about the status of my account, I was surprised to know that the account was not yet opened. Yadav admitted that he had misused my deposit money for his personal use and gave a written confession to me.”
Punjabi said, “Even after a period of 10 days, the money was not reflecting in the account and my driver approached me for help. I spoke to the branch manager about the delay and said that I would file a complaint with the police. The branch manager assured us that he would investigate the matter and if any irregularity was found, he would himself file a police complaint. But no complaint was filed by them.”
Punjabi provided MiD DAY with an audio recording of a conference call between senior sales manager Ajay Pimplekar and Yadav. During the call, Yadav admits to the delay in depositing the money, but fails to give an explanation.
When Singh approached the police station for filing an NC, he was told that an FIR would only be lodged after taking the bank manager’s statement.
API Khade of Kharghar police station said, “According to the branch manager, the money has been deposited into the account and hence we cannot file any criminal complaint. We still have decided to file an NC based on the complaint by the victim Sagar Singh. I will put forward this matter to my senior officer and we will proceed accordingly.”
The other side
A statement from IndusInd Bank reads: We have received a complaint against IndusInd Bank staff pertaining to account opening and the bank is investigating the matter internally. The bank has suspended the concerned official and has also refunded Rs 10,000 to the customer. We would like to assure our customers that the issue will be resolved at the earliest and would like to emphasize that our bank, being a professionally run outfit believes in maintaining the highest standards of transparency and commitment to its customers.u00a0
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