Rs 1 cr digital fraud: Bank staff among five arrested for cheating 80-year-old

The Delhi Police’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit has busted a digital arrest syndicate, arresting five men, including two employees of a private bank, for cheating an 80-year-old man of nearly Rs 1 crore. The arrested bank officials, Nilesh Kumar , a Senior Sales Manager, and Chandan Kumar , a Sales Officer at a YES Bank branch in west Delhi, allegedly assisted the gang by opening a fake current account using forged documents, which was later used to route the fraud proceeds.

According to officials, the gang targeted the elderly victim by impersonating officials from law enforcement and central agencies, claiming that he and his wife were under a “digital arrest” for seven days. The fraudsters initially contacted the man on WhatsApp , posing as officials from telecom and investigative agencies, and falsely alleged that his mobile number and Aadhaar credentials were linked to illegal activities.

Under the pretext of a verification process, the victim was coerced into prematurely closing fixed deposits, transferring his entire savings, and even taking a gold loan. “The gang cheated the man of Rs 96 lakh ,” a senior police officer said.

An e-FIR was registered at the IFSO police station on November 4 last year, and an investigation was launched. Police traced one of the accused, Pradeep Kumar (40) , to Hisar in Haryana, which further led to the arrest of Namandeep Malik (23) , also from Hisar. A third accused, Shashikant Pattanayak (36) , was arrested from Bhubaneswar in Odisha. Pattanayak reportedly played a key role in operating beneficiary accounts, facilitating fraudulent GST registrations, and layering the defrauded money through multiple accounts to obscure the trail.

Further investigation revealed the involvement of two private bank officials from west Delhi—a senior sales manager, Nilesh Kumar (38) , and a sales officer, Chandan Kumar (38) —who allegedly assisted the gang by opening a fake current account using forged documents. This account was used to divert and siphon off the proceeds of the cyber fraud.

Police said the probe is ongoing to identify additional conspirators, trace the full money trail, and examine the role of other facilitators linked to the racket.