BENGALURU: Karnataka police have arrested an Axis Bank relationship manager in Rajkot and three others in an interstate cybercrime and financial fraud after the four allegedly embezzled over Rs 12 crore from Bengaluru-based Dreamplug Paytech Solutions Pvt Ltd, the operator of Cred, a rewards-based credit card payment platform.
The accused include relationship manager Vaibhav Pithadiya (29), a banking agent from Surat Parmar Neha Ben Vipulbhai (26), an insurance agent and Vaibhav's colleague Shailesh (29), and a commission agent from Rajkot Shubham (26). The arrests were made following a complaint by Dreamplug executive Narasimha Vasanth Sastry.
The fraud came to light on Nov 12 when Dreamplug executives identified suspicious transactions in their company accounts. Investigations revealed that Rs 12.2 crore was siphoned off from two Axis Bank accounts over 14 days between Oct 29 and Nov 11.
The accused gained unauthorised access to Dreamplug's accounts by manipulating key details. They submitted forged documents, including fake signatures and board resolutions, to request changes to the registered mobile number and email ID linked to the accounts. These changes, approved by Axis Bank despite discrepancies, allowed the fraudsters to intercept OTPs and initiate 37 fraudulent transactions.
Dreamplug said the fraudulent activity was facilitated by requests submitted at Axis Bank branches in Ankleshwar (July 22) and Abrama in Surat (Oct 12). These requests, linked to personal email IDs and phone numbers bypassed scrutiny even though the company operates out of Bengaluru.
Axis Bank's records revealed that Dreamplug's accounts were issued a corporate ID and four user IDs in 2021, of which only two were activated by the company. The fraudsters exploited the dormant IDs to execute their plan. Dreamplug executives told police that the suspects initially attempted to transfer Rs 15.2 crore, but only Rs 12.2 crore could be siphoned.
The funds were dispersed into multiple accounts across country. Police are now working to trace the diverted funds and investigate lapses in Axis Bank's verification processes that enabled the fraud.
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