Indian-origin man pleads guilty to embezzling bank funds in US

New York, November 20

An Indian-origin man has pleaded guilty to theft, embezzlement and misapplication of bank funds in connection with a fraud scheme to illegally make loans.

Raminder Singh Rekhi (41) of San Francisco was a long-time employee of an American bank. He admitted that in 2017, he used his position at the bank to convince its customer to purchase what he told her was a certificate of deposit (CD). Rekhi acknowledged that there was no certificate of deposit, and that instead, he diverted the customer’s money into other accounts under his control.

Once the money was under his control, Rekhi entered into a series of transactions in which he used the funds as capital to make loans to three separate individuals. By doing so, Rekhi misappropriated the deposits entrusted to the care of the bank.

In April this year, a federal grand jury indicted Rekhi, charging him with one count of theft, embezzlement or misapplication of bank funds. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Wells Fargo’s internal investigation team. — PTI