Chennai: Two former employees of Yes Bank in Adyar were arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) on Tuesday, on charges of colluding with the branch manager, Patrick Hopman, and swindling 7.2 crore from the account of an elderly couple using forged cheques.
The manager, Patrick Hopman, who is the main accused, is on the run. Police suspect he may have fled to London. The manager's driver, Robert, who is also involved in the scam, was arrested in May this year.
Police identified the arrested as S Karthik, 32, a resident of Tirupattur district and S Senthil Kumar, 41, of Mogappair. Police said the two, while they were working in the branch, colluded with the main suspect, Patrick Hopman, and opened five bank accounts to which Patrick sent 35 lakh of the swindled money. For this, the duo received a commission from Patrick.
The fraud came to light after the victims, M Rajendran and his wife, returned from a foreign trip and found that the money in their bank accounts had been siphoned off. On their complaint, a case was registered.
Inquiries revealed that Patrick swindled 7.2 crore by forging the signatures of the victims on cheques and transferring the money to the bank accounts of his friends and acquaintances. Patrick used three bank accounts of his driver, Robert, and diverted 3.7 crore from the victims' bank account.
A lookout notice and red corner notice have been issued against Patrick, police said.