Bank of India fraud: Former official gets CBI custody till Nov 1

Mumbai, Oct 28 (PTI) A special court here on Tuesday remanded a former official of the Bank of India (BoI) in the CBI custody till November 1 in connection with the Rs 16 crore fraud case, saying allegation against him was "well-founded" and his custodial interrogation was necessary for "deep" investigation.

Hitesh Kumar Singla, who was a staff officer of BoI, was arrested last month by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the money laundering probe pertaining to duping the bank and its customers to the tune of Rs 16.10 crore.

He is accused of fraudulently closing the provident fund and senior citizens saving scheme and other accounts of "vulnerable customers" and transferring their money to his personal accounts.

The ED case is based on an FIR registered by the CBI under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for criminal breach of trust and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The accused was in judicial custody in the money laundering case. The CBI, after following the required procedures, formally arrested him on Tuesday.

The CBI on Tuesday produced Singla before special court judge B Y Phad and sought his remand for seven days.

The CBI, represented by public prosecutor C J Nandode, told the court that they have arrested the accused after necessary compliance of communicating the grounds for arrest to the accused in writing and to his sister.

The CBI told the court that the accusation was serious, involving a criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of over Rs 16 crore of public funds by the accused while he was a staff officer at the BoI.

He misappropriated bank customers' deposits and transferred the money into their accounts to his personal accounts, the CBI said.

The prosecution stressed that their probe brought to light a complex financial trail involving diversions to personal bank accounts, stock market investments and cryptocurrency dealings with almost the entire amount currently unrecovered.

Hence, his custody for seven days was required for thorough investigation, the probe agency said.

The defence had opposed the CBI's plea, saying Singla's custodial interrogation was not necessary.

Based on the submissions, case diary and FIR, the court said the accusation against him is "well-founded".

"Looking at the gravity and complexity of the offence, the allegation that the accused is the mastermind, and the necessity to conduct custodial interrogation to trace the proceeds of crime and identify any accomplices, I find the request for police custody remand necessary for a deep investigation," the court said.

It then remanded the accused in police custody till November 1.

Meanwhile, the ED's money laundering probe has revealed that Singla, during the period May 2023 to July 2025, fraudulently closed term deposits, public provident funds, senior citizen savings scheme accounts, savings bank accounts and current accounts without authorisation with mala fide and criminal intent.

The proceeds were credited into his personal savings accounts, the ED claimed.

The investigation further brought to light that the accused targeted as many as 127 account holders, particularly vulnerable customers such as senior citizens, minors and deceased customers to avoid detection.

The diverted funds were layered and transferred in a piecemeal and concealed manner, the ED alleged. PTI AVI NP