MUMBAI: The Cuffe Parade police arrested four employees of a leading solicitor firm, including Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Chetan Vora, Head Accountant Hina Kapasi, Consultant Tejal Chetan Vora, and driver Papukumar Jha, for allegedly siphoning off a huge amount by submitting bogus invoices and fraudulent bills.
The accused, charged under various sections of the IPC for criminal breach of trust, forgery, and cheating, were produced before a local court and remanded to police custody until December 16. Police are now searching for Vora’s wife, identified as a key beneficiary.
The firm filed a complaint in June 2023, leading to the investigation. An internal audit between July and October revealed unauthorised fund transfers and fabricated accounts dating back to 2020.
Police sources said the CFO and Head Accountant abused their access to financial records and bank accounts to transfer funds into personal and third-party accounts. The investigation uncovered transactions to 14 different accounts belonging to relatives and acquaintances of the accused.
“The accused have been systematically misappropriating funds for over four years under the guise of routine transactions,” a police official stated. The irregularities came to light when the firm’s managing partner noticed anomalies in salary and vendor payments and demanded financial records. The vague responses from the CFO and Head Accountant prompted a forensic audit.
The forensic audit revealed that Rs 49.7 lakh was siphoned off, with the firm estimating the total embezzlement to exceed Rs 3-4 crore. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the accused allegedly exploited work-from-home policies, setting up a fake satellite office in Borivali to funnel funds through fictitious consultants.
“The accused, led by Hina Kapasi and Chetan Vora, acted with connivance and common intention to cause financial loss to the firm, diverting funds to accounts unrelated to the firm’s legitimate operations,” said an official.
Further investigations are underway, with police focusing on tracing the full extent of the financial mismanagement and identifying all beneficiaries of the fraudulent scheme.
S Ahmed Ali, Senior Assistant Editor at The Times of India, Mumba...
Read MoreS Ahmed Ali, Senior Assistant Editor at The Times of India, Mumbai, covers crime and related isues but sometimes he also takes up offbeat subjects. His interests: automobiles particularly bikes, and gymming.
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