In wake of revelations that a female employee of ICICI Bank illegally withdrew crores of rupees from more than 100 customer accounts, including fixed deposits (FDs), financial experts have called on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to take stricter measures to address such loopholes in the banking system.
Experts have suggested that the RBI should introduce systems like tokenisation for fixed deposits, which would ensure that sensitive FD information is accessible only to the account holder, preventing misuse by bank staff. They also emphasised the need for the central bank to strengthen its supervisory mechanisms to detect such frauds early and effectively.
The fraud took place at ICICI Bank’s Shriramnagar branch in the Udyog Nagar area of Rajasthan’s Kota. According to reports, the employee, identified as Sakshi Gupta, allegedly misused internal banking systems to siphon off approximately Rs 4.58 crore from 110 accounts, most of which belonged to senior citizens.
She is accused of investing the funds in the stock market. Gupta reportedly carried out the fraud over a span of three years, from 2020 to 2023. She allegedly prematurely closed fixed deposits without the account holders’ consent, activated overdraft facilities, and used digital banking platforms to transfer funds into accounts held by her family members.
The fraud came to light only when one of the affected customers visited the branch to inquire about his fixed deposit. ICICI Bank filed a formal police complaint at the Udyog Nagar police station in February 2025, after conducting an internal investigation.
In a statement, ICICI Bank clarified that all legitimate customer claims have been resolved and that no customer has suffered any financial loss as a result of the incident. However, the case has raised serious concerns about internal controls and oversight within banks.
Experts are urging the RBI to implement advanced technological safeguards and a more robust monitoring framework to prevent similar incidents in the future.
