Police arrested two men suspected of embezzling the Barclays Bank of Rs 3 million on Wednesday.

The men, Avinash Yerkanaidoo, 22, and, Vishananda Ramaya, 23, customer adviser employees of the bank, had transferred the money from Barclays clients’ accounts to two MCB accounts.

The first transaction was a request by fax for the transfer of Rs 2 million and the two others were for Rs500,000 each. A fourth transaction of Rs 8 million raised suspicions at the bank which then opened an internal inquiry.

The bank sought confirmation from the clients over the phone, and they denied having made the request. They then submitted their findings to the CCID and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the relationship manager, Ziad Joomun, formally lodged a complaint on Monday. CCID arrested the first suspect, Avinash followed by Vishananda.

They both confessed to police and gave the names of other people involved in the fraud and admitted that they had forged clients’ signatures to get hold of the cash and authorise the money transfers.

The two employees appeared under a provisional charge of aiding and abetting in a commission in forgery at the Port-Louis court on the same day. They were denied bail as police felt that they would hamper the investigation if set free. Police will interrogate a third employee, the son of a high ranking police officer, who they suspect is the mastermind behind the operation.