Bengaluru: The Bengaluru CEN Police have arrested eight people, including a Manager of a private bank for allegedly siphoning off money from several bank accounts, with transactions worth Rs. 97 crore across the country.

The arrested have been identified as private bank Manager Kishore Sahu, Sales Manager Manohar, Sales Executives Karthik and Rakesh; mule account holders Lakshmekanth, Raghu Raj, Kengegowda and Mala.

Police Commissioner B. Dayananda on Tuesday said that they are looking for three more accused.

According to a Police Officer, the victim, a Yelahanka resident filed a Police complaint at the CEN Police Station on July 1, claiming that he was defrauded of Rs. 1.5 crore.

The victim received a message on WhatsApp in March and was added to a trading training group. He was then added to a VIP trading account and was promised 10 times the profit on his investment.

The victim stated that he had initially invested Rs. 50,000 and within a couple of days, the amount appeared to have doubled in his VIP trading account. Hoping to make a large profit, he again deposited Rs. 1.5 crore in phases between March and June of this year.

The victim’s account showed that he had earned Rs. 28 crore, but when he tried to withdraw the money, he was asked to pay a Rs. 75 lakh fee for server management. Sensing something suspicious, the victim filed a complaint with CEN Police.

When the Police began their investigation, they found the money was transferred to two current accounts registered with the Nagarabhavi branch of a private bank and the accounts belonged to people residing in Chikkamagalur. Upon questioning, Bank Manager Sahu did not provide any business documents or residential proof.

Later, it was found that four more such bank accounts existed in the same bank and the total transactions on these four bank accounts were worth about Rs. 97 crore.

The Police took custody of Sahu and other bank employees. Upon interrogation, they uncovered a network of corruption.