I-Sec files complaint against sub-broker's wife

BANGALORE: ICICI Securities (I-Sec) lodged a police complaint against Reena Bansal six days ago on charges of fraudulent transactions through its clients' accounts. Reena is the wife of Rajeev Bansal, the deceased sub-broker of ICICIdirect.com who allegedly duped about 100 investors of shares and money worth crores.
Subir Saha, executive VP, ICICI Securities, said, "We want the police to investigate the transactions between Reena Bansal and investors in our ICICIdirect.com trading account.We have filed an FIR, but we are waiting for the police to acknowledge it," he said.
ICICI Securities also got an ad interim relief on Wednesday from the city civil court against 38 people, including some investors, who on March 7, 2011 allegedly threatened the staff and attempted to damage ICICI Securities office at the National Games Village in Koramangala. They claimed that ICICI was responsible for the losses they have incurred because of Bansal's alleged misappropriation of funds and shares. As per the injunction order, the 38 people cannot conduct protests within 100-metre radius of any ICICI Bank or ICICI Securities branch in the city, said Saha. The injunction order is effective till June 14, 2011.
ICICI Bank on Commissariat Road, adjacent to the Bangalore Central Mall, has filed a complaint with the Ashok Nagar police station seeking protection for their staff and the office building.
About 100 investors with ICICIdirect.com, the online trading portal of ICICI Securities, have claimed to have been duped of money and shares worth several crores by a sub-broker associated with the portal. ICICI Securities said they have received five complaints so far.
Bansal, a sub-broker with ICICIdirect.com who died on February 15, appears to have been acting mostly independently of the ICICIdirect platform. He allegedly used the brand name of ICICI Securities to lure investors to transfer money to his wife Reena's account.
Bansal ran an ICICI Direct Business Catalyst (DBC) centre in Koramangala. The alleged fraud came to light following Bansal's death. Many customers approached the Bangalore office of ICICI Securities alleging that the funds and securities deposited by them in their respective accounts were misappropriated. DBC has been in operation since 2005 and many of the customers claim to have been Bansal's customers for several years.