PNB Bank Employee Arrested in Rs.3 Crore MetLife Insurance Fraud Case in UP

Police have arrested Gaurav Dubey, a bank employee, in connection with a fraud case of more than ₹3 crore linked to MetLife Insurance Company, which is associated with Punjab National Bank (PNB). He was arrested from Basti on Tuesday night.

Gaurav Dubey is a resident of Mulnapur Bhikhapur Devkali in Ayodhya district, under the Kotwali Cantt police station area. At the time of his arrest, he was working as the Deputy Branch Manager at the PNB branch in Bhiriya Rituraj, Basti. He originally belongs to Trilokpur Pedariya Jeet village in Siddharthnagar district.

From 2021 to June 2024, he worked as the Deputy Branch Manager at the PNB branch in Chhajjapur Tanda. During questioning, the accused told the police that an insurance agent named Umer Ahmed used to sit inside the bank branch and help customers purchase MetLife insurance policies.

Police said that during this period, Umer Ahmed allegedly took signatures from bank customers on cheque leaves. He then used those cheques to transfer money from customers’ accounts to the accounts of his relatives and family members, or withdrew the money in cash.

According to the investigation, Umer Ahmed paid Gaurav Dubey a bribe for helping in the fraud. Dubey allegedly received 20% commission on the amount transferred to other accounts through cheques and 50% commission on the money withdrawn in cash.

Superintendent of Police Abhijit R. Shankar said on Friday that a complaint was filed by Rupavati, wife of Jagdish Prasad, and about 15-16 other individuals. They alleged that Umer Ahmed, son of Parvez Ahmed, resident of Pilikothi Mubarakpur, connived with unidentified bank officials and fraudulently embezzled their money.

The investigation revealed that the accused, Umar, lured the bank customers with the promise of doubling their money within five years. He, in collusion with bank employees, asked them to provide blank cheques in the name of the policy.

Umar issued policies with less amount and deposited the remaining funds into his own and his relatives’ accounts, or withdrew them in cash. For example – If customer deposited Rs.1 lakh for policy, he would provide policy of Rs.50,000 and transfer Rs.50,000 to accounts of his relatives and provide a fake bond paper of Rs.1 lac to the customer. He also, along with his accomplice, Sharad Maurya and unidentified bank employees, fraudulently prepared fake bond papers.

The Superintendent of Police stated that the fraud began in 2019 and continued until February 2025. Thus, Umar, along with his accomplices, defrauded approximately 2 crore rupees.

Punjab National Bank should look into this fraud and create some strict guidelines for sale of insurance within branch premises.