Mumbai: CBI Moves Against Indian Bank Worker In Kuwait Who Siphoned Oil Firm’s Funds In 2018

The CBI has registered a case against a man for an alleged bank fraud wherein he transferred 1,65,800 Kuwaiti Dinars and 1,34,000 USD to different bank accounts in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and one in Mumbai in 2018 while working at a bank in Kuwait. 

CBI officials said that the Judicial Authorities of the State of Kuwait requested on July 28, 2023 to initiate legal proceedings against Shaheer Thayyil Pandikasalayil, an Indian national, in a criminal case related to the alleged fraud.

As per the request from Kuwait, Pandikasalayil worked as data entry clerk with National Bank of Kuwait, where he received 78 orders from Kuwait Oil Tanker Company on May 31, 2018, to transfer the amounts from their account maintained with the bank to international authorities and local authorities specified by them. 

However, Pandikasalayil, instead of transferring the funds, allegedly forged bank records and fraudulently transferred the aforementioned amount to different bank accounts on the same date, as per a CBI official. As per the Kuwaiti authorities, he transferred 2,65,000 USD to a bank account of a private firm in Mumbai. It is alleged that Pandikasalayil left the State of Kuwait immediately and came to India on June 1, 2018.

Based on the last year’s request made by the Kuwaiti authorities, the CBI registered a case in the matter recently under sections 409 (criminal breach of trust), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 477A (falsification of accounts) of the Indian Penal Code.