Mumbai: Axis Bank Manager Files FIR Against Woman Employee Of Educational Trust For Alleged ₹85 Lakh Fraud Using Forged Cheques

Mumbai: The manager of Axis Bank's Byculla branch has filed an FIR at Nagpada police station against Nikhat Panjwani, accusing her of allegedly withdrawing Rs 85 lakh from multiple accounts of the Habib Group of Trust using forged cheques.

The Habib group of trust is an educational trust based in Dongri has 11 savings and current accounts in the Byculla branch and other five accounts in the Mazgaon branch.

As per the recent FIR, in December 2023, the Habib trust had allegedly complained that its cheques were allegedly used to withdraw money and forged signatures had been used.

The educational trust has allegedly claimed that cheques were stolen from its office between 2022 and 2023. The trust reported to the bank that funds were withdrawn from its Byculla branch accounts using forged signatures. After the trust informed the bank, the bank had set up an internal investigation and the internal investigation revealed that the bank had been defrauded

The FIR further stated that the bank had conducted an internal investigation and found out that Rs 84 lakhs had been withdrawn from the account of the educational trust and the alleged accused had used forged documents and signatures. The bank took responsibility after the approval from senior officials and returned Rs 53.30 lakh to the Habib group out of which Rs 40.10 lakh had been refunded to the educational trust through a demand draft and Rs 13 lakhs is pending due to technical issue.

According to the FIR, the bank's internal investigation team also recorded a statement from former manager Zakir Shaikh. During the inquiry, he disclosed that Nikhat Panjwani, an employee hired by the Habib Group of Trust, would frequently come with cheques to withdraw money on behalf of the trust.

The Nagpada police who are investigating the matter are yet to make an arrest in this matter and they have registered an FIR under section 420 (cheating) ,34 (common intention) and other relevant sections of the Indian penal code.