An executive of a private bank has been arrested for allegedly forging a signature to start an insurance policy in a woman’s name and failing to repay a Rs 40-lakh loan he had taken from her 72-year-old father.
Police said Ayan Ganguly, the arrested executive, served as the bank’s relationship manager for the elderly man and his wife for around a decade.
He was the manager of the bank’s branch in Shyampukur, in north Kolkata, when he allegedly forged the signature of the man’s daughter to open at least one insurance policy in her name.
The police said Ganguly did that to fulfil his periodic target, set by the bank, of getting customers invest in policies.
The elderly man has mentioned in his complaint to the police that the accused knew him and his wife for more than 10 years as he was their relationship manager.
He had also allegedly taken a loan of Rs 40 lakh from the complainant and did not return the amount.
“According to the complaint, the accused, whom the elderly couple trusted because of their decade-long association, had forged the signature of the complainant’s daughter and failed to return the money that he had apparently taken from the elderly man as loan,” said an officer of Behala police station, where the case was registered in August.
Based on the complaint, the police arrested the accused last week and started a case under IPC sections on cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery and criminal conspiracy. He has been remanded in police custody.
“Ayan Ganguly, the accused, has worked in several banks. From the complaint that we received in August, it became clear that he had befriended the elderly man in 2012 when he was the relationship manager in the bank where the complainant had his account,” said an officer of Behala police station.
“He allegedly opened at least one policy in the name of the complainant’s daughter and forged her signature while she was out of town,” the officer said.
A senior officer at Lalbazar said it was a usual practice for elderly citizens, especially those whose children do not stay with them, to depend on outsiders to manage their banking affairs or payment of bills.
Several cases have been reported in Kolkata during the pandemic when elderly citizens, forced to stay indoors because of the fear of infection or lockdown restrictions, were cheated by people they had trusted with their money.