Citi working on ''fair compensation'' for affected customers

Mumbai, Jan 15 (PTI) Citibank, which has been hit by a Rs400 fraud at its Gurgaon branch, today said it is reconcilingits accounts and working out a "fair compensation" for thosecustomers affected by it.

"This process will happen over a period of time. Wewould like to thank our customers for their patience andco-operation," the bank said in a statement.

"We have since been in contact with our impactedcustomers and are committed to safeguarding our customers''legitimate interests," it added.

The global banking major said that it has beenreconciling amounts involved with impacted customers to arriveat the compensation package.

"We will also continue to support the investigatingauthorities fully until this matter is resolved and brought toits logical conclusion," the statement said.

The bank has been in touch with its impacted customersand is fully committed to safeguarding their legitimateinterests, it said in a statement here.

"As we have stated earlier, we identified suspicioustransactions at our Gurgaon Branch in early December andimmediately reported the matter to law enforcement andregulatory authorities," the statement said.

One of its employees, Shivraj Puri, is accused of luring40 high net-worth individuals and corporate entities to investin a bogus investment scheme on the pretext of high returns,while diverting the funds to the stockmarket.

Victims of the fraud include big names such as thepromoters of the Hero Group (Rs 250-crore) and Helion AdvisorsManaging Director, Sanjeev Aggarwal (Rs 33-crore).

Yesterday, Puri was remanded to 14 days judicial custody(till January 28) by a local court. He was initially takeninto seven days police custody on December 30 last year afterthe scam was detected.

Later, the police remand of Puri was extended for sixdays on January 6 and then, subsequently, for two days onJanuary 12.