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The incident came to light when Banerjee discovered that a large amount of money from her personal SBI Kalighat branch account was transferred to an old, inactive account – which was originally opened during her tenure as MLA between 2001 and 2006 – and subsequently withdrawn through a series of online transactions.
According to the SBI complaint filed at the cyber crime police station, the fraudsters used fake PAN and Aadhaar cards with Banerjee’s name but with a different photograph, successfully updated the KYC and changed the registered mobile number on October 28, 2025. This gave them full access to the account, allowing unauthorized transfers totaling ₹56.39 lakh.
The money was allegedly transferred to the accounts of several beneficiaries, used to purchase jewelery and withdrawn through ATMs.
SBI has initiated an internal investigation and has promised full cooperation by providing all KYC and transaction records to the investigators. The Cyber Crime Division of Kolkata Police confirmed that investigation is underway to identify the culprits and trace the fund trail.
“We are investigating the internal systems of the bank and working to find out where the money went,” a senior police officer said.
A close aide of Banerjee said the MP was hopeful that the culprits would be caught and his money recovered soon.
The case has raised serious concerns about the security loopholes in digital KYC verification and the ease with which fraudsters can exploit dormant accounts to commit large-scale financial crimes.