Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Maharashtra), Dec 24 A quiet net-banking scam of Rs 21.60 crore, being perpetrated on a government sports complex for six months, abruptly came to light when one of the accused allegedly started blowing off money on expensive vehicles, properties and diamonds, for self and his girlfriend.
The fraud, going on since July 1, was recently detected at the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Divisional Sports Complex (CSDSC), and the local police and Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has nabbed two accused so far, while the third – the purported kingpin – is absconding, said an official source.
The two arrested are -- a typist Yashoda Shetty and computer operator B.K. Jeevan, both contract workers along with the prime accused, identified as one Harshkumar A. Kshirsagar, untraced so far, and they were routed through a human resources firm along with 16 others in 2023.
The sources said that the Shetty-Jeevan-Kshirsagar, who now stand accused of conspiracy and complicity in the whole crime, drew an average monthly salary of around Rs 13,000, but displayed sudden signs of affluence.
The CSDSC sports officer Tejas D. Kulkarni lodged a formal police complaint and a discreet probe was initiated that threw up their modus operandi.
The Jawahar Nagar Police and the EOW found that the accused had started a net banking facility with the Indian Bank using forged documents and went about bleeding the CSDSC for six months with all the officials in important posts remaining blissfully unaware.
The official, declining to be identified, said that Kshirsagar and Jeevan tinkered with an old letterhead of CSDSC, carrying forged signatures and stamps of the sports complex. It was formally issued to Indian Bank, asking to start a net banking facility, in which one of the accused also supplied his mobile number for the additional service. They also created a fake email ID of the CSDSC and in June the bank completed all relevant formalities to activate the net banking facility on Jeevan’s mobile number.
With this critical access under their belt, they started the long-winded swindle which continued unhindered for six months -- till one of them ostensibly became over-confident with a brazen display of sudden wealth.
After the probe, the police lodged a complaint on Sunday, the duo was arrested and sent to police custody till December 27, and the EOW is also probing the financial aspects of the shocking case.
The sustained questioning of the arrested colleagues has revealed the monies were diverted to buying a BMW car, a BMW motorcycle, purchase of a deluxe four-bedroom flat in a posh complex near the Airport, ordering diamond-studded spectacles, expensive clothes and other signs of a richie-rich lifestyle.
Many questions are being raised on the lackadaisical attitude of the CSDSC and how the application for activating the net banking facility was not cross-checked or verified by the bank, or why did the IT Department fail to get any inkling of the high-value purchases.
Interestingly, the sports institution was hauled up earlier this year for defaulting on civic taxes and dues of around Rs 2.75 crore by the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation. The accused have been slapped with charges under BNS 61 (2), Sec 316 (2), Sec 318 (4), Sec 316 (5), Sec 336 (2), and investigations are on to nab Kshirsagar and possibly other associates involved in the sensational crime involving government funds.
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