The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached the assets of a former Punjab and Sind Bank employee who allegedly broke customer FDs worth over Rs 52 crore and used the money to play online games, the agency said on Sunday.
ED initiated an investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI against Bedanshu Shekhar Mishra and others relating to bank fraud and misappropriation of funds.
The action of the federal agency came after a case was filed under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the bank official. ED said that they attached immovable property and fixed deposits worth Rs 2.56 crore to the accused bank employee.
ED investigation revealed that the main accused, Bedanshu Shekhar Mishra, while being posted as officer during 2021 and 2022, in the branch office of Punjab and Sind Bank of Khalsa College, North Campus, Delhi University, has reportedly misused his official position and carried out fraudulent transactions by using system ID’s of himself and other staff members unauthorizedly to break the FDs of several customers, including SGTB Khalsa College of Delhi University, without their knowledge, and committed fraud and forgery with the bank as well as with those account holders of the bank, and misappropriated and siphoned public money to the tune of Rs 52,99,53,698.
After detection of the fraud, the accused, Bedanshu Shekhar Mishra, was suspended by the bank on November 16 last year.
The ED investigation also revealed that Bedanshu Shekhar Mishra has used the proceeds of crime for playing online games such as monopoly, poker, teen patti etc on different online gaming websites such as Goa247.live, Indibet.com and Betway.
The proceeds of crime (POC) generated out of the aforesaid crime were mainly transferred by him to the online gaming companies by routing through various current accounts of different business entities.
“It is also gathered that these accounts, in which POC was transferred by Bedanshu Shekhar Mishra, were borrowed by the owners of the gaming website and companies on commission basis,” the agency said.
Further investigation is under progress.