Sivaganga: The District Crime Branch (DCB) police have arrested the branch manager and deputy manager of ICICI Bank’s Kallal branch in Sivaganga district for their involvement in a ₹2.03 crore embezzlement scheme. The arrests were made on Sunday following an internal investigation by the bank.
The bank’s Regional Manager, Krishna Kumar (49), filed a complaint, prompting Superintendent of Police Dongare Pravin Umesh to order a detailed investigation. A team led by Inspector Mannavan was tasked with handling the case.
Investigations revealed that the branch manager, Vignesh (34) from Thanjavur district, and deputy manager, Rajathi (38) from Kalayarkoil, Sivaganga district, had orchestrated a fraud. The duo allegedly replaced real gold jewelry, pledged by customers, with fake jewels in 37 packets containing a total of 533 pieces. These fake jewels were then pledged back to the bank under different names.
The fraud surfaced when 26 customers redeemed their gold jewelry, but the funds received from the redemptions were not deposited back into the bank. Since the genuine jewelry was returned to the customers, no suspicion was raised initially. Police confirmed that 11 other customers had also pledged real jewelry, which remains intact. As a result, the financial loss was borne by the bank alone, and the public’s gold remains safe.
In connection with the investigation, the police have also detained two individuals—Ramesh (48) and his son Satish (21)—based on confessions made by the bank officials.
A senior police officer disclosed that Vignesh had reportedly lost significant amounts of money playing online rummy, while Rajathi had invested in real estate.
The investigation is ongoing, and further details are expected to emerge.
