7-Year Imprisonment for Former Bank of India(BOI) Branch Manager in CBI Fraud Case

 In a bank fraud case, the CBI Court in Bhopal convicted former Bank of India Senior Branch Manager Piyush Chaturvedi and private individual Mohan Singh Solanki to seven years of harsh imprisonment. Additionally, the court fined both defendants ₹60,000 in total. On May 14, 2026, the verdict was rendered.

The case was filed on January 25, 2016, according to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), based on a written complaint submitted by the Deputy Zonal Manager of Bank of India, Zonal Office, Bhopal, at the time.

The CBI claimed that on November 26, 2013, Piyush Chaturvedi, a Senior Branch Manager of the Bank of India's Misrod Branch in Bhopal, illegally approved a term loan and cash credit limit of ₹30 lakh in the name of M/s R.J. Enterprises.

The same day, it is alleged that ₹25 lakh was fraudulently transferred from M/s R.J. Enterprises' account via an RTGS transaction using falsified vouchers and RTGS forms. The money was moved to the account of M/s Sanwariya Machine, which belonged to accused Mohan Singh Solanki.

Both of the suspects stole the money as part of a criminal conspiracy, according to the inquiry. The bank suffered an unjust loss as a result of the fraud, while the accused individuals gained an unfair advantage.

Following the inquiry, the CBI presented a chargesheet to the appropriate court against both defendants.

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Allahabad highcourt fines Rs.50000 to bank for freezing customer account

 

If a customer's account credit exceeds their claimed income, Channel Banks will freeze their account. Consumers are becoming irate, and the Allahabad High Court heard one such case.

The Allahabad High Court's Lucknow Bench has expressed concern about banks blocking client accounts without good cause. According to the Court, a bank shouldn't act like an investigative body since it functions as a trustee.

Indian Overseas Bank was fined ₹50,000 by a Division Bench consisting of Justices Shekhar B. Saraf and Awadhesh Kumar Chaudhary. A customer's account was locked by the bank without good reason. The bank was mandated by the court to reimburse the account holder for this sum within four weeks.

The lawsuit concerns M/s S.A. Enterprises, a business that sells fish farming equipment. A petition was filed by the business against the bank. According to the suit, on January 16, 2026, RTGS credited ₹23 lakh to the company's account. 

This transaction was viewed as suspicious by the bank, which froze the account. The bank said that the company had only reported an annual income of ₹5.76 lakh at the time the account was opened. The bank blocked the account as a result, invoking the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The High Court pointed out that no cybercrime report was the reason the account was frozen.

The bank behaved as an investigative agency and took independent action. The Court made it quite plain that banks are not allowed to determine the source of cash on their own. An order from the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Police, or the Enforcement Directorate is required in order to freeze an account.

Additionally, the Court stated that the practice of freezing accounts without a valid justification is concerning. Such acts have the potential to halt corporate operations and harm account holders' reputations.

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RBI cancels banking licence of Paytm Payments Bank

The banking license granted to Paytm Payments Bank Limited under Section 22(4) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (the "BR Act") was revoked by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday, April 24, 2026, with effect from the end of business on that day.

As a result, Paytm Payments Bank Limited is immediately barred from engaging in "banking" as that term is defined in Section 5(b) or any other activity listed under Section 6 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, according to an RBI circular.

The regulatory agency said it will make an application for winding up of the bank before the High Court.

It said Paytm Payments Bank Limited has enough liquidity to repay its entire deposit liability upon winding up of the bank.

The Reserve Bank said it cancelled the licence of the Paytm Payments Bank Limited because the affairs of the bank were “conducted in a manner detrimental to the interest of the bank and its depositors.”

“Thus, the bank is not complying with Section 22 (3) (b) of the BR Act,” it said.

Besides the “general character of the management of the bank is prejudicial to the interest of depositors as also the public interest. Thus, the bank is not complying with provisions of Section 22 (3) (c) of the BR Act,” it said. 

It said no useful purpose or public interest would be served by allowing the bank to continue as envisaged in Section 22 (3) (e) of the BR Act.

The action was taken because the bank failed to comply with the conditions stipulated in the Payments Bank license issued to it, thereby violating the provisions of Section 22 (3)(g) of the BR Act, the central agency said.

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Big Gold loan scam in SBI, Staff Arrested

An SBI employee from Bhubaneswar was detained by the Crime Branch's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) for allegedly embezzling Rs 5.21 crore by approving 105 gold loans without the required paperwork or obtaining authentic gold ornaments. 

Prashant Kumar Mallick, the accused, was employed at the SBI Balichandrapur branch in Jajpur as a senior associate and cash-in-charge. According to EOW, Mallick began working at the SBI branch in Balichandrapur in June 2022. For the previous few months following the discovery of the deception, he had been running away. Peeyus Ranjan Swain, Regional Manager of SBI Jagatsinghpur, filed a complaint that led to the case's registration on February 10, 2026.

The suit states that Mallick, who had been the branch's senior associate-cum-cash in-charge since June 2022, approved and disbursed 105 gold loans totaling Rs 5,21,42,000 between October 2024 and July 2025 without the required paperwork or real gold ornaments as collateral. 

Mallick's responsibilities included recommending loan sanctioning, confirming eligibility and compliance with the necessary documentation, and checking gold ornaments with the assistance of goldsmiths. In addition, he was responsible for keeping track of the pledged gold ornaments and the completed loan agreements.When Mallick failed to present the gold loan files to senior officials during their normal visit to the bank in 2025, the scam was discovered.

In 2025, Chief Manager Manorama Rout of SBI Balasore discovered the fraud on a routine check. Mallick fled without warning and neglected to present the necessary gold loan documents.

Rout ordered an urgent spot audit and a thorough internal investigation because he suspected irregularities. According to the inquiry, 74 loans were approved without any gold security at all, and 31 of the 105 accounts contained the pledge of phony or counterfeit gold ornaments.

It was discovered that a number of loan files contained fraudulent borrower signatures and were missing important papers including jeweler valuation assessments.

The bank personnel carried out a thorough internal inquiry and audited the gold loan accounts. They discovered that Mallick had processed 105 gold loan accounts unlawfully.

Of them, 74 accounts were approved without receiving any gold ornaments, and 31 accounts involved the pledge of counterfeit gold ornaments.In this regard, the bank executives then filed a complaint with the EOW. The major scam was found when the EOW began its inquiry.

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Bank Ignored Credit Card Closure Request, Ended Up Paying ₹3.21 Lakh – Know Reserve Bank of India Rules”

After a private bank neglected to promptly close a credit card, a credit card user was compensated with a substantial sum of Rs 3.21 lakh.

The user described how he attempted to close two credit cards in May of last year after the bank lowered the credit limit from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10,000 in a widely shared Reddit post titled "Got Rs 3.21 lakh compensation from Kotak Mahindra Bank for not closing my credit card." The bank charged an annual fee rather than canceling the cards.

The user then filed a complaint with higher authorities. After bringing up the matter, the bank claimed that the cards had never been closed, which led to another round of unanswered emails. The user complained to the Banking Ombudsman because they were frustrated.

The bank’s officer called customer and said: “It’s your mistake. Closure requests are not accepted via email, you should have called”. But I had already submitted a written closure request. Sent follow-ups. Received no response from the bank.”

The user said the bank finally paid a compensation of Rs 3,21,000. But what are RBI guidelines regarding credit card closure? Let’s understand.

According to RBI guidelines, if a bank fails to close a credit card within 7 working days of a customer’s request (provided all dues are cleared), the issuer must pay a penalty of ₹500 per day of delay to the customer.

If a bank fails to follow the guidelines, customers can raise a complaint. The first step is to complain to the bank’s nodal officer. If no resolution is provided within 30 days, customers can approach the RBI Ombudsman.

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₹1.15 Crore Worth of Jewelry Missing from Indian Bank in Gujarat: Petition in High Court

In a case that has raised public concern regarding the safety of assets pledged in public sector banks, the Gujarat High Court has issued notices to the State Government and the Rajkot Police. The court is seeking a response following a petition filed regarding the mysterious disappearance of gold jewelry worth approximately ₹1.15 crore from a branch of Indian Bank. This dispute originally began in 2023.

 Incident: 

A couple from Rajkot had taken an MSME Jewel Loan from the Rajkot branch of Indian Bank.

 They had pledged over 1,000 grams of 22-carat gold jewelry, which included necklaces and pieces studded with precious stones.

 Despite the petitioners regularly fulfilling their interest obligations, they were informed on October 29, 2025, that their pledged jewelry had gone missing from the bank’s locker (secure storage).

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5 Days Bank Working: When will Indian banks start working for 5 days, how far has the demand for 2 days holiday reached?

 

Will banks soon begin operating for five days? This question is being asked by most bank employees, associations, and ordinary customers. When will banks begin operating Monday through Friday, with all Saturdays and Sundays closed? 

Demands for a five-day working day and two holidays are being consistently raised. Bank associations have placed their demands before both the RBI and the government, but no final decision has been made yet. Neither the government nor the RBI has issued any official announcements.

At present, banks remain closed on all Sundays along with second and fourth Saturdays as before.

Why is the decision stalled? 

This proposal was agreed upon during the salary agreement between the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) and bank unions. However, government approval is required for its implementation. Despite numerous protests and negotiations, no timeline has been established.

Bank employees want a better work-life balance. They believe that the RBI and many other financial institutions already have a five-day work system, so banks should also implement it. Unions have also suggested that slightly longer working hours could help maintain a balanced work schedule.

At present, nothing has changed for customers. Bank branches are open as usual, and all services are continuing as usual. However, if the 5-day system is implemented in the future, some changes to banking timings and services may be observed.

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Five Officers sent to 3 Years Jail for lapses in Loan Sanctioning

In a significant bank fraud case, the CBI Court found two private individuals and five State Bank of India (SBI) employees guilty. According to the conviction, A1 to A7 were fined Rs1,15,000, A1 to A4 were sentenced to three years of simple jail, and A5 was sentenced to two years of simple imprisonment. 

According to CBI investigators, they plotted to defraud SBI-Anaparthy Branch between 2008 and 2011 by obtaining credit facilities for VNR Refineries through deception. Bank clients conspired with bank employees to get loans by hiding previous mortgages and providing falsified paperwork as collateral.

• Kalluri Satyanarayana (A1) – Then Relationship Manager (Medium Enterprises), SBI Sales Hub, Regional Business Office, Kakinada, East Godavari district.
• Chaganti Chalapathi (A2) – Then Branch Manager.
• Nidadavolu Venkata Ramana Rao (A3) – Then Branch Manager.
• Manapragada Ramana (A4) – Then Assistant Manager (Advances), SBI Anaparthy Branch, East Godavari district.
• Mallidi Venkata Narayana Reddy (A5) – Managing Director of VNR Refineries Private Ltd, Vemulapalli-Dwarapudi, Mandapeta Mandal, East Godavari district.
• M Venkata Narayana Reddy (A6) – Private person.
• P Subba Rao (A7) – Then Assistant Manager (Agriculture Advances), SBI Anaparthy Branch.

By breaking bank regulations, disregarding proper processes, and falsely certifying documents to enable the loans, the bank executives abused their positions. With an outstanding balance of Rs 9.19 crore, they thus caused unjust loss to the bank and wrongful gain to themselves.

Because it involves public funds, financial confidence, and stringent regulatory compliance, loan processing is one of the most delicate tasks in the banking industry. When it comes to lending sanctioning, verification, and monitoring, bank employees are expected to act with the highest level of diligence, integrity, and openness.

Serious financial losses and financial mismanagement can result from even a minor oversight. As a result, when processing loans, bankers must thoroughly review each application, accurately check papers, and make sure that all regulations and guidelines are followed.

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