ICICI Bank Manager Arrested For Rs 4.58 Crore FD Fraud In Kota; Investigation Underway
Kota, 6th June 2025: A relationship manager at ICICI Bank’s Kota branch in Rajasthan has been arrested for allegedly embezzling ₹4.58 crore from 41 customers through 110 fixed deposit (FD) accounts over a three-year period. The accused, Sakshi Gupta, is believed to have manipulated internal banking systems between 2020 and 2023 to carry out the fraud undetected.
Gupta reportedly diverted the funds into the stock market in hopes of earning high returns, but ended up suffering significant losses. The fraud came to light in February this year when a customer visited the said branch to inquire about the FD. An internal audit was conducted following the complaint, which revealed the scale of the breach. The bank subsequently lodged a police complaint on 18th February regarding the incident.
According to investigators, Gupta exploited her access to ICICI Bank’s internal system, using the ‘User FD’ link to withdraw funds illegally. She allegedly changed the registered mobile numbers associated with the FD accounts to those belonging to her family members, allowing her to intercept transaction alerts and OTPs. She even set up a system to receive OTPs on her own devices, ensuring the customers remained unaware of the unauthorized withdrawals.
Police arrested Gupta during her sister’s wedding. She is currently in judicial custody. Investigating officer Ibrahim Khan stated that the accused acted alone and had carefully planned the fraud, taking advantage of system loopholes to avoid detection for nearly two years.
The case has raised serious concerns about internal security practices in the banking sector, particularly in relation to access control and the monitoring of high-value transactions. Authorities are now investigating how the fraud went unnoticed for so long and whether shortcomings in the bank’s audit processes contributed to the delay in uncovering it.
An ICICI Bank spokesperson said, “The interest of our customers are of paramount importance to us. Immediately upon discovering the fraudulent activity, we filed an FIR with the police. We have a zero-tolerance policy against any fraudulent activity and thus suspended the employee involved. We would like to reassure that genuine claims of impacted customers have been settled.”
