An Australia-based OCI, Paritosh Upadhyay, has alleged that Rs 6.5 crore was siphoned off from his account in Axis Bank’s Begumpet branch in Hyderabad using forged loose leaf cheques. The amount was withdrawn from his account over a period of approximately three to four years, he told The Financial Express.
Upadhyay said that several bank officials were involved in the misuse of his account. He claimed that most of the fraudulent transactions occurred while he was outside India. The bank officials named in the FIR include, Venkataramana Pasarla, Service partner Surekha Saini, Hari Vijay and Sridevi Raghu. Upadhyay has accused the above people of forgery, fraud, criminal conspiracy, breach of trust and embezzlement.
On realising that funds were missing from his account, Upadhyay said he approached the then branch manager, Sridevi Raghu, post which he had to raise the issue with Hari Vijay, who “promised” to look into the matter. Upadhyay later approached Axis Bank CEO Amitab Chaudhary via emails. He claims, to this date, he receives automated messages from Chaudhary’s desk, “suggesting that the case is under investigation”. However, no action has allegedly been taken in the matter so far.
“The total number of cheques which were withdrawn without my knowledge are about 42 loose leaf cheques,” Upadhyay stated in the FIR.
A forensic examination of the cheques revealed that his signatures had been forged, he claimed.
When questioned about missing transaction alerts related to the alleged Rs 6.5 crore fraud, Paritosh Upadhyay explained that the alerts were linked to his father’s mobile number. He stated that his elderly father failed to notice the fraudulent activity due to his advanced age.
The complainant claims that his account was misused for the mutual benefit of all bank employees involved in the fraud transactions. He added that he has been pursuing his case with the bank for years now. In October 2024, Upadhyay received an email from the bank saying that his account was being closed, which he had not consented to.
He also alleged that the bank halted the use of loose leaf cheques immediately after the fraud surfaced and he raised his complaint.
“Several other Axis Bank clients have now come forward with similar concerns, alleging irregularities in their accounts. Some have already begun moving their funds out of Axis Bank, indicating a broader erosion of trust,” he said in a statement.
Recently, Upadhyay took to Twitter to say that he had been getting death threats amid his persistent attempts to pursue the case.
In response to the allegations put forth against the bank and its employees, Axis Bank said taht it has been charged with impersonation and criminal breach of trust based on complaints made by Upadhyay. “As per information available till date, the alleged transactions were entered into with the full knowledge of Mr. Paritosh Upadhyay and the allegations made against existing officials of Axis Bank have been found baseless. Axis Bank will continue to act in the best interest of its customers and is extending full cooperation to the authorities to resolve the matter at the earliest. The Bank reserves all its rights and remedies as available under applicable law, including initiating legal proceedings for any false and defamatory statements against the Bank or its officials,” it told FE.