Is an Axis Bank Manager Complicit in Cyber Fraud in Mumbai?
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- The CBI has arrested an Axis Bank Manager for facilitating cyber fraud.
- Nitesh Rai is accused of opening mule accounts for cybercriminals.
- Illegal payments were accepted in exchange for processing bank accounts.
- Two other cybercriminals have also been implicated in this case.
- The investigation highlights vulnerabilities within the banking sector.
New Delhi, Nov 12 (NationPress) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken into custody the Bank Manager of a Private Bank in Mumbai for his significant involvement in facilitating the establishment of mule accounts, the agency announced on Wednesday.
The suspect, named Nitesh Rai, who serves as the Bank Manager at Axis Bank, was apprehended on November 11.
Investigations reveal that this bank official, in collusion with cybercriminals, accepted illegal payments and, by misusing his official authority, processed account opening forms, thus creating avenues for the transfer and layering of funds derived from cybercrime.
The CBI has pointed out that these accounts were used in various cybercrimes, including incidents of Digital Arrest fraud.
A case for violations under the Prevention of Corruption Act and BNS was filed against him. The suspect was presented before a relevant court in Mumbai and remanded into CBI custody for further questioning,” stated the CBI in a press release.
Two cybercriminals who provided the illegal payments to the bank manager have also been implicated in the FIR for committing offenses under the Prevention of Corruption Act related to bribing a public servant.
Both of these individuals had previously been arrested by the CBI as part of the ongoing investigation into a Digital Arrest Cybercrime case.
“Evidence gathered during the investigation suggests a broader scheme of organized cybercrime networks exploiting banking systems by opening mule accounts to conceal the proceeds of Cyber Fraud amounts stolen from unsuspecting citizens,” the agency remarked.
It is important to understand that any active or passive involvement of bankers, including those from private and cooperative banks, “in facilitating cybercrime will make them subject to actions under the PC Act as well as BNS, and the CBI is dedicated to pursuing such bankers.”
The CBI reaffirms its dedication to identifying and dismantling the cybercrime networks that are deceiving and defrauding innocent citizens.