Written by Sadaf ModakMumbai | September 20, 2025 08:39 AM IST 3 min readInitially, an FIR was registered by the CBI on a complaint from the bank, following which the ED filed a case of money laundering.The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested a staff officer of a national bank for allegedly transferring amounts lying in deposit accounts of 127 account holders into his personal accounts, cheating the bank and its customers to the tune of Rs 16.10 crore. The targeted accounts were of ‘vulnerable’ account holders such as senior citizens, minors, deceased customers, the ED told court.’Hitesh Singla, the 32-year-old staff officer of the Bank of India, Turner Road branch, was arrested by the agency on Wednesday and produced before a special court which sent him to the ED’s custody till September 23.Initially, an FIR was registered by the CBI on a complaint from the bank, following which the ED filed a case of money laundering. The ED told court that Singla was suspended from the bank from August 5, following an inquiry. He was posted at the Bandra branch of the bank from 2022.The alleged cheating came to light after a legal heir of a senior citizen customer of the bank sought information on the status of his bank accounts. Upon checking, the accounts were found to be closed. An inquiry showed that after the accounts were closed, the deposited money was first remitted to the office account of the branch and then a personal account held in the name of Singla in Punjab.The ED told the special court that a preliminary investigation was done and it was found that the accused had closed various terms deposits, public provident fund, senior citizen savings scheme, savings and current bank accounts without any authorisation and credited the amount to personal saving accounts between May 2023 and July 2025. “The accused deliberately with malafide and criminal intention targeted vulnerable account holders like senior citizens, minors, deceased customers, inoperative/dormant accounts, and others in order to remain undetected and facilitated the transfer of amounts in a concealed and piecemeal manner,” the ED told court.Special public prosecutor Arvind Aghav told court that the accused had targeted customers of at least four different branches and used IDs of several other staff members for processing and verification of the fraudulent transactions with the cheating amount likely to rise. The ED also told court that the fraudulent amount has been invested in stock market and funds to the tune of Rs 8.27 crore and another Rs 1.42 crore was transferred to the account of another staffer, a co-worker. Singla’s lawyer opposed the plea, stating that there are no grounds to grant custody.“The custodial interrogation of the accused is must for the purpose of identification and unearthing the proceeds of crime and its utilisation,” special judge R B Rote said.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Enforcement Directorate