OCC’s chief financial technology officer was removed from position over a false CV

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) had lost one of its officials last week when it was discovered that its first chief financial technology officer, Prashant Bhardwaj, falsified his CV.

According to recent reports, the former chief fintech officer is no longer in place, and as the investigation of his credentials continued, researchers discovered that the V was filled with falsehoods, including his alleged employment at major banks.

Prashant Bhardwaj: False work history

Prashant Bhardwaj was originally announced as the new OCC executive earlier this year, in March. At the time, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency shared a statement announcing that he would take the lead of the new Office of Financial Technology, which undoubtedly emerged due to the recent breakthroughs in the fintech sector.

Bhardwaj took over as the deputy comptroller and chief financial technology officer, and at the time, OCC described him as a veteran of the financial sector, with nearly 30 years of experience serving in a variety of roles across the industry. However, the OCC did not list any of the positions that its new executive supposedly held prior to joining its ranks.

Then, Bhardwaj had apparently left his $300,000-per-year position by the summer 2023, only to be replaced by OCC’s own financial veteran, Miriam Bazan. The office continued to operate, now under Bazan’s management.

Now, however, the truth about Bhardwaj started to emerge, and reports by The Information and Fintech Business Weekly say that the former executive’s employment history prior to joining the OCC was completely false.

For example, the reports note that Bhardwaj claimed that he had acted as the CIO at Fifth Third Bank for four years, between January 2006 and March 2010. After that, he allegedly took up the same position at Huntington Bank.

Both of these claims are false, and he never held either of the two roles. In fact, according to the spokesperson from Fifth Third Bank, this individual never even worked there to begin with.

Stunning lack of due diligence at the OCC

Bhardwaj’s falsified CV also listed several other big names in the finance industry, such as Citi, for which he claimed to have worked beginning in 1994. However, as it turns out, he was only 13 at the time, so his ruse was not very well planned.

Unfortunately, even with such obvious inconsistencies, he somehow managed to get past the OCC’s checks and land a position he had held for several months.

Further investigation also raised questions regarding his educational credentials while also opening up an extensive criminal history, including DUIs and domestic violence charges.

Another regulator behaving badly.

OCC's new Chief Financial Technology Officer Prashant Bhardwaj's work history included easily disprovable claims i.e. working at “Citi Bank” at 13 years old.

DUIs, domestic violence charges. Stunning lack of due diligence. Superb reporting. https://t.co/TbqVbVR9Hn

— Catahoula (@Catahoula_Value) November 24, 2023

Naturally, this led many to question the OC’s due diligence, but so far, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has not published an official response.