CITIBANK SCANDAL This case discusses about the scam faced by Citibank recently because of Mr.

Shivraj Puri, a relationship manager at Citibanks Gurgaon branch. Up to 16 more corporate entities have been duped in the up to Rs 300-crore Citibank investment fraud case, apart from around four Hero Group outfits. The Gurgaon Police Commissioner, Mr. S.S. Deswal, told Business Line that 18-20 corporate entities are believed to have invested about Rs 200 crore in the sham deposit scheme engineered by Mr Shivraj Puri, a relationship manager at Citibank's Gurgaon branch. The remaining Rs 100 crore had been parked by high net worth individuals. Mr Deswal added that the Hero Group companies believed to be involved are Hero Corporate Services, Arrow Infrastructure Ltd and Satyam Auto Components Ltd. Hero Honda not involved. In an official statement, the Hero Group said on Friday that its overall exposure to the Citibank investment fraud case is limited to Rs 28.75 crore and that Group flagship Hero Honda Motors Ltd was not involved. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India has begun a probe into the investment fraud and said it would soon issue a statement in this regard. Victims of the Citibank fraud include Hero Group promoters (Rs 250 crore) and Helion Advisors Managing Director Sanjeev Aggarwal (Rs 33 crore). Hero Corporate Service said it has identified two more cheating employees who could have colluded with its former Associate Vice-President Sanjay Gupta and Citibank employees in the Rs 300-crore fraud. "Following an initial internal enquiry, two employees Ganpat Singh and Gaurav Jain-- working in the accounts department have also been identified to have been in possible collusion with Sanjay Gupta and Citibank employees," Hero Corporate Service said in statement. They have been sent on leave with immediate effect by the company, it added. "This is in addition to the suspension of Gupta by the company. Further appropriate action will be taken after the final outcome of the enquiry," it said

Earlier this week, Gupta was remanded to a five-day police custody in connection with the Citibank fraud case for allegedly investing about Rs 250 crore belonging to promoters of the Hero group companies.