HDFC Bank probe finds 68 employees used fake documents to get jobs

HDFC Bank has registered an FIR against Adeco consultancy firm at Gurgaon alleging it used falsified documents to place 68 applicants in different positions for last two years.

The fraud came to light during reference check of bank's employee Geetanjali Bagga, who joined the bank as an assistant manager in October 2017.  During reference verification in February 2018, it exposed that she had been assisted by Adeco Consultancy for recruitment and had presented fabricated experience certificates, salary slips, and other documents. During an internal investigation, Bagga disclosed that she paid around Rs 60,000 to Amit Choudhary, who manages the Consultancy.

The bank consequently started an investigation into other applicants who were employed through Adeco and discovered that 68 staffers submitted falsified documents. The investigation also revealed that Amit along with his friend Satyendra Pal managed the agency. Some records have also used the names Lotus Consultancy and Aspire Consultancy apart from Adeco.

Bharti Soni, HR department vice-president, HDFC Bank, said: "It is an obvious case of fraud. HDFC Bank has no tie-up with the said consultancy, and we are deeply concerned over such fraudulent activities involving our brand name to cheat the general public."

FIR revealed that Satyendra, the branch manager of HDFC Bank's Noida Sector 135, had given Rs 1.45 lakh to Adeco for his employment. After getting employed, he trained other applicants for interviews and assisted them in clearing online exams conducted by the bank.

The bank approached police after completing an internal probe, and an FIR was registered on Sunday at Sector 53 police station against Amit, alias Rohit Kumar, his wife and other Bank employees Vishal Pandey and Komal Kushwaha. They all were charged under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 471 (using forged document), 468 (forgery for cheating), 467 (forgery) and 420 (fraud) of the IPC, the Economic Times reported.

Ashwani Kumar, Assistant sub-inspector and the investigating officer, said, "We are trying to track down the accused, and further investigation is on."

HDFC Bank in its complaint to police said that candidates submitted a dual SIM mobile phone including SIM cards to the agency and were asked to provide these numbers in references to clear verification conducted by the bank. Adeco allegedly purchased nearly 360 domain names to create false email IDs for evading reference checks.

The agency, in connivance with other bank employees, reached applicants about openings. The applicants paid around Rs 25,000 to over Rs 1.5 lakh as per the package they received.

(Edited by Vivek Dubey)