Accountant steals ₹1.08 crores from company in India, loses it all to fraud

An accountant employed with a private company allegedly stole ₹1.08 crore (INR 10.8 million) from his company's account in Mumbai. However, he lost all the loot money by investing it in an insurance scheme, which turned out to be a scam.

Sudhir Mapuskar has been an employee of Zaina Electric and Mechanic Works since 1992. He gained the trust of the company over three decades and was authorised to receive OTPs on his cellphone for the company's banking transactions. However, he took advantage of this trust and transferred large sums of money from three of the company's bank accounts to his accounts.

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This information is based on the chargesheet filed by officials of Azad Maidan police station. Eventually, Mapuskar, who was originally accused of the theft, became a victim himself

The chargesheet states, "The report of a forensic audit by the company’s chartered accountant revealed that Rs 1.08 crore had been fraudulently transferred between May 2016 and March 2023."

The company's proprietor, Fali Dadi Palkhiwala, filed a police complaint alleging that the accountant had misappropriated funds intended for employees' provident fund, salaries, and taxes. The police claimed that the arrested accountant had confessed to the crime.

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According to the police, he was approached by four individuals in 2021 who presented him with a 'double-your-money' scheme. He was enticed by the lucrative offer and used company funds.

"Of course, this had a cascading effect with employees' salaries going unpaid for a while," a police officer told Times Of India. Out of the total amount of ₹1.08 crore, the accountant had failed to pay ₹67 lakh that was due under the 'ROC' category, ₹2 lakhunder income tax, ₹48.06 lakhunder goods and services tax, ₹4.93 lakhunder employee's provident fund, and ₹4.75 lakh that was supposed to be paid as staff salaries.

The accountant has admitted that he had devised a plan to return the amount he had unlawfully borrowed back to its rightful place once he had received his gains from the insurance scheme. The police have frozen at least 15 bank accounts that the accountant had used while misappropriating the company's funds, according to the police statement.

(With inputs from agencies)