The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday got the custody of former Bank of India (BoI) officer Hitesh Kumar Singla till November 1 for questioning in a ₹16 crore fraud case. He is accused of taking money from 127 bank accounts, including those belonging to senior citizens, minors, deceased customers, and dormant accounts. The full amount has not yet been recovered.
Last month, Singla was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case. Later, the CBI got permission to take him into custody for a separate case involving cheating and criminal breach of trust.
The CBI said the case is serious. It claimed that Singla took customers’ deposits, transferred the money to the bank’s official account, and then moved it to his personal account. The investigation has found a complex money trail, including transfers to stock market investments and cryptocurrency deals.
The Court said – “After reviewing the case diary and FIR, the charges seem well-supported. Considering the seriousness and complexity of the crime, police custody is necessary for a detailed investigation”.
Earlier, The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Mumbai, had arrested Hitesh Kumar Singla, an Officer of Bank of India, from Ahmedabad Junction Railway Station under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The Officer was earlier suspended by Bank of India. He was produced before the Special PMLA Court, Greater Bombay, which granted ED custody for seven days.
The CBI had filed a case against Singla and Others under Section 409 of IPC, Section 316(5) of BNS, and Sections 13(1)(a) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. As the case involved money laundering, it was transferred to ED and ED started its investigation.
Investigations revealed that between May 2023 and July 2025, Singla fraudulently closed multiple accounts — including Term Deposits (TDs), Public Provident Fund (PPF), Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), Savings Bank (SB), and Current Accounts (CA)—without authorization. The funds were then diverted to his personal SBI savings accounts.
The diverted funds were layered and transferred in small, concealed transactions, causing a total loss of ₹16.10 crore to Bank of India and its customers, while severely damaging the bank’s reputation and public trust. Since the fraud came to light, Singla had been absconding and failed to report to the bank. Based on intelligence inputs and technical surveillance, ED intercepted him at Ahmedabad Junction.
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