A former employee of Coffee Day Global Limited filed a complaint at Cubbon Park police station on September 29, accusing a private bank and its officials of gross negligence and criminal misconduct, citing serious violations of RBI-mandated KYC and Fight against money laundering (AML). The complaint alleges that bank officials colluded with third parties to create false documents and enable illegal transactions, highlighting major gaps in KYC and AML norms.

According to the complaint, the victim has a single savings account at the Chikkamagaluru branch of the private bank. However, he was summoned by the Income Tax Department in February 2023 on suspicion of having large debts. tax obligations due to transactions linked to another account of which he was unaware.

The complaint states that an allegedly fraudulent account was opened in the MG Road branch of the private bank using the victim’s personal information, allegedly without her consent or knowledge.

When he came to know about this account during his interaction with the Income Tax department, he immediately sent a legal notices at the bank. Despite his efforts, which included a complaint to the Reserve Bank of India’s ombudsman, no action was taken, forcing him to escalate the matter.

Gaps in procedures
This complaint highlights serious lapses in KYC procedures and anti-money laundering (AML) norms on the part of the bank officials.

As per detailed regulations of the Reserve Bank of India, KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures are in place to verify the identity of customers during account opening and periodically thereafter. This helps prevent fraud, identity theft and other financial crimes. AML standards, on the other hand, involve monitoring and reporting suspicious financial activities that could be linked to illegal activities, such as money laundering or the financing of terrorism.

The victim alleges that large sums of money, allegedly totaling Rs 35.56 crore, were routed through the fraudulent account over several years. The victim claims these actions not only damaged her reputation, but also caused significant financial and emotional distress.

Among the accused are bank employees
The victims of the complaint accused the manager as well as the employee of the private bank, alleging that the officials colluded with third parties, creating false documents to facilitate illegal transactions.

Such actions constitute a direct violation of RBI Regulationsparticularly those governing the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and calls for strict legal action against responsible parties, they said.

The accused have been charged under sections 316 (criminal breach of trust), 318 (cheating), 319 (cheating by person), 335 (forgery), 336 (forgery), 340 (using false documents or electronic records as genuine) and 61(1) (Criminal Conspiracy) under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act.