Varanasi: Three officials of Axis Bank, including the Assistant Vice President and Center Head, have been booked for allegedly cheating a company of ₹2.5 crore in a foreign exchange (forex) scam. The case has been registered at Bhelupur Police Station in Varanasi.
According to the complaint, Ganga Sagar Prasad Gupta, Director of Innuvium Energy Private Limited — a company importing raw plastic materials — accused Axis Bank officials of fraud and FEMA rule violations.
Gupta alleged that in 2023, two Axis Bank officers — Sunil Dubey (Assistant Vice President and Center Head, Commercial Banking Group) and Gracy Singh (Relationship Manager) — visited his residence and offered a “risk-free investment plan.” They promised additional profits through the difference in foreign currency exchange rates on a ₹25 lakh fixed deposit.
Later, it was discovered that the scheme was actually illegal forex trading, banned under RBI and FEMA regulations. The officers reportedly booked 13 forex forward contracts in the company’s name during 2023–24, even though such contracts are only allowed for genuine exporters or importers with real foreign currency exposure.
The issue came to light when a fake invoice was received on the company’s email in October 2023, raising suspicions of forged documents. Investigations revealed that one of the contracts — worth 5 lakh Swiss francs — was booked at ₹97.25 per franc, while the market rate on maturity was ₹107.70. This caused a huge loss, and the bank allegedly debited ₹52.25 lakh from the company’s account without approval.
Further review found that three other contracts had also led to losses of nearly ₹2 crore. Gupta said that the Axis Bank fraud has shaken his confidence in the banking system.
The company has sent complaints to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), demanding a high-level investigation into the case.
The Bhelupur Police have registered an FIR against three Axis Bank officials and one unidentified person under charges of financial fraud and forgery. The Varanasi police have started further investigation into the forex scam case.
More details will be released soon.
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