Citibank employee 'steals millions of dollars' !!

A Citibank employee in India has been accused of defrauding wealthy individual and corporate clients of millions of dollars.

The alleged fraud was discovered earlier this month in a branch of the global bank in Gurgaon, a wealthy suburb of the Indian capital, Delhi.

The employee solicited investment in a fictitious scheme, promising high returns in a short time, the bank said.

Police say the wanted staff member has now gone missing.

Earlier he was suspended after a complaint was lodged by the bank with the police.
'Fake investment scheme'

Citibank has refused to publicly put a figure on the alleged fraud but senior police officers told Indian newspapers that at least $20m (£12,951,188) was stolen.

According to the official police complaint filed by Citibank, which has been seen by the BBC, the suspicious transfer of funds at its branch in the wealthy Delhi suburb of Gurgaon, began in October 2009.

The US bank, which has a large presence in India, accused the missing employee of forging documents and persuading a number of clients to put money into a fake investment scheme.

But instead of making his clients a fortune as promised, the bank claims he channelled the money into accounts allegedly controlled by three of his relatives.

The police are now looking for the man, who they say has absconded.

Meanwhile Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee dismissed fears that the alleged fraud was caused by any systemic weakness in Indian banking, describing it simply as an "individual misdemeanour".

"We recently initiated an investigation into a certain set of suspicious transactions based on documents forged by an employee involving a few accounts in our Gurgaon branch," Citibank said in a statement.

"We immediately reported the matter to all the relevant law enforcement authorities.
Read more: Citibank employee steals millions of dollars

Tata Nano car sales sink by 85%

Sales of Tata Motors' Nano, the world's cheapest car, plunged by 85% in November compared with a year earlier, the Indian carmaker has said.

It blamed the slump on the difficulty potential customers had in accessing loans to buy the car.

However, analysts pointed out that a series of fires in the Nano, as well as price rises, had also affected sales.

Tata said its total sales across all models in November were 54,622, a rise of 1% on a year earlier.

The carmaker also said that sales of its Jaguar Land Rover-branded models "continued their upward trend".
Fire hazard

However, the company said it had sold just 509 Nanos during November.

During the month, Tata offered free safety upgrades for the model, which went on sale last year.

This came after owners of the hatchback reported about half a dozen fires since April last year. There were no injuries.

The Nano was introduced to India in April 2009 and there are now about 70,000 of them on the country's roads.
Read more Tata Nano car sales sink by 85%