Bank of Baroda Employee Arrested for Rs 8.70 Crore Theft, Bought Bungalow and Shop With Stolen Money
The Ahmedabad Police on Friday arrested Bank of Baroda joint custodian Harsiddh Kadiyar for allegedly embezzling Rs 8.70 crore from the bank. Kadiyar, who had been working with the bank for the last 15 years, reportedly admitted that he committed the theft to maintain a lavish lifestyle.
The alleged theft was discovered after officials at the bank’s Kalupur branch, which also has a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) currency chest used for transferring funds to other banks, found that 174 bundles of Rs 500 notes worth Rs 8.70 crore were missing from the vault. The vault was managed by chief custodian Sanjay Sharma and joint custodian Harsiddh Kadiyar.
Bank officials checked the CCTV footage and found that on January 13, Kadiyar was seen leaving the bank with several boxes. He allegedly misled his colleagues by saying that the boxes contained garbage that he was taking outside for disposal. He continued working at the bank for around 90 days after the theft, believing that the CCTV footage would automatically get deleted after three months.
After that period, Kadiyar stopped coming to work, saying that he was unwell. On April 13, he applied for a five-day medical leave, but did not return to work after April 20.
The bank manager later filed a complaint at the local police station, after which the police started an investigation.
Police arrested Kadiyar soon after the complaint was filed. During questioning, he reportedly confessed to the crime.
According to the preliminary investigation, Kadiyar used the stolen money to buy a bungalow in Chandkheda worth more than Rs 2 crore, a shop worth Rs 1.40 crore, a small truck, and also invested some money in cryptocurrency.
He also allegedly gave Rs 28 lakh to a co-worker, Vaishali Ben. Police recovered Rs 2.20 crore in cash from an Ertiga car parked outside a house in Sola where Kadiyar was staying. The vehicle and his mobile phone have also been seized.
Police are now investigating whether his wife, who works as a head constable in the Railway Police, had any role in the crime.
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