Bank Officer held for cheating customers

BANGALORE: An Associate Vice-President of the Sales Division of HSBC Bank’s Basavanagudi branch was arrested by Basavanagudi police for allegedly cheating six customers to the tune of Rs 1.33 crore.The accused has been identified as K V Kiran Kumar (29), a resident of APC Layout, in Vidyaranyapura. A native of Mysore, he is said to be a rank holder in BCom and an MBA. He was working with the bank since 2009.Modus OperandiAccording to the police, Kumar allegedly cheated the customers of the bank by misusing their money. He used to interact with customers who approach him to invest in the bank’s mutual funds and other policies. He got cheques from them, but he convinced them he would write the name of the payee. Later, he transferred it to the account of his father Vijaykumar and friend D Prathap, by writing their names on the cheque. After a customer complained about this to the bank, the bank manager filed a complaint with the police and also sacked Kumar.“During investigation it was learnt that he has cheated about six customers to the tune of Rs 1.33 crore. He also revealed that his father, a civil contractor, had suffered loss in the business and had huge debts. To repay them, Kumar had decided to misuse the money of customers,” the police added.The police have recovered cash Rs 45 lakh from the accused and are on the look out for his father and friend.  Futher investigations in the case are on.