28/06/2006

Employee arrested over HSBC fraud

Police investigating a financial scam at an Indian call centre operated by HSBC have arrested an employee.

Nadeem Kashmiri, a data operator, has been charged with hacking into the bank's computer system, which allegedly led to money being taken from customer accounts.

The amount of money involved is believed to amount to £233,000. HSBC said that the money had been taken from a "small number" of accounts in the UK.

The fraud was detected by internal systems at the call centre, which had been operating since 2002.

HSBC said that it would assist the Indian police with their investigation. A spokesperson for HSBC said: "We intend to pursue a conviction as aggressively as possible."

The spokesperson also said that all customers affected by the fraud had been contacted and would be reimbursed by HSBC.

Nasscom, the trade body for the Indian IT and services sector, also said that it would work with legal authorities in the UK and India to ensure that any breaches in security were prosecuted quickly.

Nasscom Vice President Sunil Mehta said: "We believe that any case of theft or breach of a customer's confidentiality must be treated extremely seriously."

(KMcA/SP)

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