PNB Fraud Case Greater Noida: ₹10 Crore FD Fraud, CBI FIR & How to Protect Your Deposits

PNB fraud case: what happened in Greater Noida

The complaints come from customers of PNB’s branch serving Aichhar and nearby villages in Greater Noida, reported as the Sector Pi branch. Many of them are farming families who had deposited compensation from land acquired for infrastructure projects, often in large fixed deposits.

According to their complaints, when they visited the branch to check balances or withdraw money, they found that:

• their fixed deposits had been closed before maturity and the money transferred to other accounts;
• money had been withdrawn from savings accounts they had not touched;
• they had received no SMS or email alerts, and some say their registered mobile number or email had been changed without their knowledge;
• in some cases, valuables were missing from bank lockers, with jewellery allegedly replaced by imitation pieces.

About 30 account holders first approached the local police station, which registered an FIR under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police say the suspect transfers were traced to six accounts in Goa, Mumbai and Jharkhand.

What the CBI FIR in the PNB fraud case says

In the PNB fraud case, the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch in Ghaziabad registered an FIR based on a complaint from PNB, following the bank’s own internal inquiry. According to reports on the FIR:

• A bank employee allegedly used the user IDs and passwords of other bank officials to carry out unauthorised transactions and move money into accounts linked to associates.
• The irregularities allegedly went undetected for nearly three years.
• The FIR names a bank employee, several private persons and unidentified public servants. The case was registered under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Information Technology Act and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
• PNB’s complaint lists 49 suspicious FD closures and later transfers totalling ₹70.23 crore. Officials say this is the total value of transactions under scrutiny, not the confirmed loss, and its link to the ₹10.24 crore figure is still being examined.

⚖️ These are allegations under investigation. No one has been convicted, and the amounts may change as the CBI and the bank verify each transaction. We have not named the individuals in the FIR for this reason.

Timeline

What PNB has said

In a statement on 29 October, PNB said it had “taken serious cognisance” of the complaints, would honour all genuine claims, and was cooperating fully with the authorities. The bank said it follows a zero-tolerance policy on fraud, will take strict action against anyone found responsible, and is strengthening internal controls and monitoring. Senior officials from the bank’s head office and Noida zone are overseeing the matter.

Why this matters for every FD holder

The PNB fraud case is not about a bank failing. PNB is one of India’s largest public sector banks, and deposits there are safe. It’s about insider fraud, where someone inside a branch misuses access to customer accounts. The warning signs in Greater Noida are ones any depositor can check for:

• Large, untouched FDs that the owner rarely checks are the easiest to close quietly.
• Changed mobile numbers or emails stop alerts from reaching you, so you don’t notice for months.
• Paper FD receipts don’t tell you whether the deposit still exists. Only the bank’s system does.
• Locker contents aren’t recorded by the bank, so without your own photos and list, a swap is hard to prove.

Is your FD protected? 8-point check

Money missing from your bank account? Do this

1. Complain to the bank in writing at once.Visit the branch, email the bank’s grievance address and use its official helpline. Ask for an acknowledgement with a complaint number. Report it within three working days if you can.
2. Ask the bank to block further debits.Request that the affected accounts and FDs be frozen and your mobile number and email be re-verified.
3. Collect proof.Keep FD receipts, passbooks, statements, locker records and any messages. Note the dates you last saw the correct balance.
4. File a police complaint.For online or unauthorised transfers, also call the national cybercrime helpline 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in.
5. Escalate to the RBI Ombudsman.If the bank doesn’t resolve your complaint within 30 days, or rejects it, file a free complaint on the RBI’s Complaint Management System at cms.rbi.org.in.

What RBI rules say about your liability

Under RBI’s 2017 rules on unauthorised electronic transactions, the bank must credit the disputed amount to your account (a “shadow reversal”) within 10 working days of your complaint, and must resolve it within 90 days. For bank lockers, compensation is capped at 100 times the annual rent; our guide to whether your gold is safe in a bank locker explains how that works.

PNB and past bank frauds

The Greater Noida PNB fraud case is much smaller than the PNB fraud most Indians remember: the roughly ₹13,000 crore Letter of Undertaking scam involving jeweller Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, which came to light in 2018. That case involved fake bank guarantees issued to companies, not individual customers’ deposits. The common thread is weak internal controls, such as shared or misused login access, which RBI has since pushed banks to tighten.

Frequently asked questions

Planning where to keep your savings? Our FD calculator shows maturity and after-tax returns, and our PPF vs FD vs SCSS guide compares the safest options.