Contractor’s employee embezzles Rs 80 lakh by forging signatures of government officials; employers

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

An employee of a government contractor embezzled Rs 80.36 lakh by submitting forged signatures of the officers and fake documents purportedly from the Water Conservation Department. The accused, Firoz Khan Munaf Khan (Bharatnagar, Garkheda) has reportedly committed the crime. Notably, officials and staff of the Bank of Baroda (BoB) have also been named as co-accused in the case for allegedly being complicit in the fraud.

Sachin Deshmukh is a government contractor who has been working on Water Conservation Department (WCD) projects through his firm "Amar Infrastructure" since 2010. Firoz had been employed by him since 2022. In 2024, Deshmukh secured a road and bridge construction contract in Kavadgaon from the Water Resources Department (WRD). As per government norms, he deposited an FDR (Fixed Deposit Receipt) of Rs 32.44 lakh in the Bank of Baroda in the name of the concerned department, along with a departmental certificate. After the work was completed, on May 20, engineers from the department issued an order and the original certificate to release the FDR.

However, the bank informed Deshmukh that the FDR amount had already been withdrawn. Upon checking all documents, Deshmukh discovered they were forged. It was revealed that Firoz used fake signatures of Deshmukh, his business partner Shaikh Rafiq, WCD Executive Engineer and counterfeit departmental letterheads to carry out the fraud. Between April 2024 and May 2025, Firoz encashed 13 such FDRs, embezzling a total of Rs 80.36 lakh.

Forgery of Cheque

In addition to the FDR fraud, Firoz forged Deshmukh's signature on a cheque and transferred Rs 40,000 to a relative’s bank account. Following the complaint, the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) Inspector Sambhaji Pawar registered a case and arrested Firoz. Pawar said, “ The court has remanded Firoz to police custody until June 4.”

What is an FDR?

To secure a government contract, contractors must deposit an FDR (Fixed Deposit Receipt) in the name of the relevant government department as a third-party guarantee, proportional to the contract value. Once the work is completed, officials from the department issue an order to release the FDR. The bank then liquidates the FDR and credits the amount to the contractor’s account.