84 private firms empanelled to assist Maharashtra Police in financial fraud case

Mumbai: The Maharashtra govt has empanelled 84 firms, including international entities, to assist the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) and other police units in conducting forensic and digital forensic audits in cases involving financial irregularities. The govt has divided these firms into three levels: the first can handle audits in cases involving more than Rs 500 crore, the second in cases involving Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore, and the third in cases involving less than Rs100 crore.Under the new panel, police investigators will be able to outsource the examination of bank statements, income tax returns, property records, spot panchnamas, seized office documents, hard disk data, and other digital evidence to specialised firms. The empanelment will remain valid for three years. The term of the existing panel ended in March.According to a Govt Resolution (GR) issued on Thursday, the state decided to create the new panel in view of the growing need for experienced and specialised institutions to support complex financial investigations. An evaluation committee scrutinised applications received through an Expression of Interest process and recommended the final list of eligible firms.The empanelled firms will be required to sign strict confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements and comply with secrecy provisions under the Official Secrets Act. They must also submit declarations confirming that they have no conflict of interest in the assignments given to them.Each assignment is expected to be completed within three to six months, with extensions of up to two months permitted for recorded reasons. No empanelled firm can have more than three police assignments pending at any given time.The GR authorises the director general of police and officers of the rank of Additional Director General of Police to award work to the lowest bidder after defining the scope of work. If the size or complexity of a case increases, investigators may replace the appointed firm with another institution of a higher category or greater expertise.If the investigating officer determines that a forensic audit or digital forensic audit is necessary for the investigation, the officer shall prepare a detailed scope of work and obtain financial quotations from empanelled audit firms in the relevant category. The investigating officer shall prepare a comprehensive proposal and, through the unit head, obtain approval from the competent authority for appointment of the audit firm.