The complaint was lodged by the chief manager of PNB's Noida circle on Oct 23 after an account holder flagged three suspicious debits that appeared to be part of a larger pattern.
In a move that has rattled customers, the CBI’s Anti‑Corruption Bureau in Ghaziabad filed an FIR on Thursday, charging the branch's office assistant Deepanshi and account holder Ashutosh Pathak with siphoning Rs 10.24 crore from customer accounts over the last three years.
Bank records show that the unauthorized withdrawals were traced through core‑banking system logs, revealing that Deepanshi misused CBS user IDs under the instructions of Pathak. The bank admitted that the fraud was uncovered after a reconciliation exercise began following the account holder’s complaint. It has already paid Rs 43 lakh in three claims and vows to honor all legitimate claims.
The complaint lists charges of criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, cheating, falsification of accounts and misconduct by public servants under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Information Technology Act. The CBI also cited breaches of the IT Act for manipulating customer account particulars.
The Greater Noida police have filed a separate FIR, and forensic analysts will examine system logs and customer statements. A hearing is expected in the Delhi High Court next month.