DLF Riverside
She paged a teller, a guy showed, "What is it about"
"Hey can u please bring the dox for a deposit made to 4321-5678-XXX"
"One month?"
"sure" she said
It came in a few... the deposit slip was hand written, and had the name Ved Sareen on it
THAT WAS IT!!
"this has NOTHING" II was distressed
"Well we are not obliged to collect anything more on a less than Rs.50 k deposit"
"So the person knew what he was doing?" she asked terrified
""Looks like it?"
"U think its hawala of some sort?" II asked panicking
She was almost in tears, her face was completely red, sweat beads all over, her eyes filling up
"Well hawala is usually a cash transfer between clients and agents" the relationship manager paused looking deeply
"U know me, the only inflows to my account are wages, stock comp & bonuses from work and and occasional gift from parents, and then ofcourse my DMAT" she began to cry
"Hey Ishita dont cry" the relationship manager got up and walked around, she asked her to get up and walk over to a couch, she closed the blinds
"WHO IS THIS GUY?" "I NEVER loaned any body money"
"Its paying your bills right now"
"Its a crime taking some one else's money" she ranted
She didnt know who to approach for a loan, her credit cards had pending balances so none would offer a cash advance, how could she get out of spending a stranger's money?"
"can u debit my account and zero it out?'
"One we cant coz he had the Account number listed accurately AND signed in PERSON
Two, your account would go into a debit balance, you never took over draft protection so, we will have to charge you 17.5% for every rupee you spend over limit"
"Good grief" II cried softly
"Umm do u mind if I ask u something?" she asked
"Sure" II mumbled
"U married into one of the wealthiest families in town I cant personally believe you are in such a situation" very softly
"Its personal" II mumbled inaudibly
MY HUSBAND WILL KILL ME
AYYO!!!
HOW WILL I TELL HIM?
HE WILL LITERALLY PUSH ME OFF the Spectrum 20th
She wanted a hug right now...
"Can I get a statement? "the last 6 months?" she asked
"Sure hang on" she went and grabbed it
II scanned it patiently "I am a CPA and was going to go into Wealth Management for a bank" she cried
"It happens to the best of us Ishita, was there an illness? What happened? I havent looked too much"
"I bought my parents a car, over extended myself with a loan on it and the down payment, I also have my Toyota Loan with HSBC" Ii explained
" Can we sit down sometime and talk about how to do this right?" she offered kindly
"If I survive this at home" she blurted
"Ur husband doesnt know? oh yes... he doesnt... its not a joint account... umm... Ishita...I cant debit that deposit, when is your paycheck due"
"Friday May 8th"
"Ouch" she said
"What else is set on auto pay? can u tell me please?" she asked
The rel mgr brought out her ipad and sat down, offered her the chai that was just delivered
"Umm... ur car instalment... and looks like the payment to Guardian Angels Nursing Care is hand written"
"U really cant take it off my account"
"I AM SORRY Ishita I CANT... if it was an employee error, we would be thrilled to, we would even give you a Rs.100 Starnbucks Gift Card for diligently keeping an eye on your Account, this is a deliberate deposit IN CASH"
"Dont you take phone numbers?" II demanded
"Its not 10 lakhs or 5 lakhs or 1 crore, Income Tax would be on our tail then" we would even
take shoe and underwear size, u know Raghuram Rajan (RBI Gov) is extremely unforgiving"
II nodded
"Dont worry... IF we hear from some one about a similar sounding account number or name with one digit off, if they happen to
apologize for the error we will immediately debit it, but then we will start charging you 17.5% on every dime we pay out. Do u want to use this opp to sign up for a over draft protection? Looks like you might need it"
She was trying to be polite and honest
"Hmmm" she nodded... leaning back
She imagined him walking through the door picking her up walking away to throw her off Spectrum
The Mgr brought papers over she signed a stack of them
"I have FDs.. can I encash one of them?" she asked
"It would take 48 hours for the amount to be credited, your FDs dont mature for another 9.7 years, u renewed them for 10 years in September if u recall"
"Ya the interest rate on 10 year was better"
"Ishita LET IT BE"
"Its stealing, what if the guy accuses me of writing checks and spending his money"
"HE WONT KNOW. We dont share details of who the account holder is how solvent the account is etc" the woman patted her shoulder
"I better go, I have a 2 O Clock"
"Sorry, dont worry"
"Can u kick start the OD please?"
"Sure"
"Thanks"
"Can I send u a text apptt Ishita? we need to talk" smiling somberly
"Maybe after this this is over?" she said "Ummm could I go to prison for this?"
"OH NO!! NO... Its not like you initiated this transaction, legally you are protected Ishita. If any its the guy's fault for incorrectly
writing the Account number on the deposit slip, my tellers didnt commit any errors either"
She smiled...
VED SAREEN VED SAREEN, VED SAREEN, VED SAREEN... she conducted a Google search as she walked, almost got ran over by a school bus
Wandered aimlessly for a half hour in the scorching heat missing her meeting with Ashwini. Ashwini texted her couple times "Are we on?"
"where are u?"
"Late lunch?"
She even called... II didnt answer... her head began to hurt real bad...
she got herself a bottle of cold water and exacerbated the pain by rinsing her face...
Returned to work with a splitting headache, continued searching.. there werent 100s less than 5 actually
She decided to call ALL of them
She didnt know if it was fake or real name, if the guy was in INdia or overseas... NOTHING
She looked up, one... two... three... the "Peoplefinder" search engines took her for a spin and didnt do any good
The 4th, Sareen & Shukla it said
SHE FOUND A WEBSITE A CLEAN... WELL BUILT ONE... GLOSSY
She hit the hyperlink under the name.
"Law Offices of Sareen & Shukla" "How may I help you?" a woman fluent in English answered
"Umm... I am looking for a Ved Sareen" she said haltingly
"Oh ya, he is one of the partners on the name? U cant speak without an appointment I am sorry, they charge by the hour, can I connect you with a Legal clerk or a Paralegal if u tell me what branch of law u need advice on, making a will, divorce or personal injury?
"Ummm I need to speak with Mr Sareen" she said
"I just told u Maam, he charges by the minute" she was beginning to be blunt and arrogant
"I dont mind" she mumbled😭 I AM BLOODY BROKE BUT I DONT MIND
"Hes not in right now, someone would have first look at the case, in the org chain and determine if S&S is even going to be able to assist THEN Mr Sareen comes into the picture"
"CAN I JUST TALK TO HIM FOR A SECOND?"😭
"Ummm sorry no" she said coolly
"Please?" II cried😭
"I wish I could help" she said
"where are u located?" II asked
"DLF Riverside in Sector 40 Gurgaon" the operator/receptionist hung up😡
Edited by Nisha0604 - 8 years ago
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