2 bankers booked for wrongfully selling policy, forging documents

The accused have been identified as Gaurav Sethi, the branch manager and Vipin Jain, the relationship manager of the couple.

Mumbai: Two executives from an international bank were booked on Saturday for allegedly duping a senior citizen of ₹80 lakh by giving wrong information and selling a policy.

The couple’s health records were falsified, and their incomes were inflated for them to qualify for the policy, said a police officer, adding, “The domestic help, who has been living with the couple for 27 years and her 17-year-old daughter were shown as their relatives and named as nominees. The couple did not have an idea of this either.” (Image for representation)

The accused have been identified as Gaurav Sethi, the branch manager and Vipin Jain, the relationship manager of the couple.

As per the police, the complainant, Vipin Seth and his wife held premium accounts in the Santacruz branch of the bank. Sethi and Jain approached the elderly couple in June 2021.

“They informed the couple about a policy for 7 years, for which they will have to pay ₹40 lakh annually and get a tax-free return of ₹3.50 crore at the end of the term,” said a senior inspector from Khar Police Station. “They also explained how the fixed deposit and other investments can be used towards this. All the documentation was taken care of by the bank executives and the couple just had to sign some papers. Sethi was near the complainant when he received a call to confirm that he was buying that policy.”

On February 14 this year, the couple was discussing their financial future with a friend. At that time, they looked at the policy documents and realised that the term period of the policy was of 15 years and not 7 years as claimed by the bank executives.

“After that, we minutely scrutinised the document and found many other discrepancies like the email address and phone numbers registered as that of the policyholder were not either of ours. Therefore, we had not received any of the communication sent by the bank about the policy,” Seth said in his statement to the police.

The couple’s health records were falsified, and their incomes were inflated for them to qualify for the policy, said a police officer, adding, “The domestic help, who has been living with the couple for 27 years and her 17-year-old daughter were shown as their relatives and named as nominees. The couple did not have an idea of this either.”

“Then, I approached the bank manager. He could not give me any satisfactory reply,” Seth told the police. He then approached the police on Friday.

The two bank executives have been booked under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code.