Mumbai: Sion-based Shree Manav Seva Sangh, a non-profit organisation, has approached the police and registered an FIR against their accountant for defrauding them to the tune of Rs. 36 lakhs. The alleged accused, Prateek Shah, siphoned money off the organisation’s fund while also forging documents for several years.
The complainant, Pranav Tejukaya (41), is the trustee of the organisation, which works in the field of welfare activities for orphan children, less privileged women and senior citizens.
According to him, their organisation receives various types of donations, in the form of cheques and cash, which are mentioned in the records with the names of the donors. Another type of donation includes ‘secret donation’ where the donors's name is recorded as ‘Well Wisher’.
Along with the accused Prateek Shah, two more people work as an account – named Siddhi and Mercy, said Pranav, adding that all donations that they receive are deposited into the bank account of the organization, except the secret donations, which are kept locked in a system with a safety lock. The lock of the same is with the accountants, said Pranav.
Pranav mentioned that the ‘secret donations’ were to be used for the renovation of the organisation’s education institute for children. However, starting March 3, Shah stopped showing up at work. Despite multiple efforts to reach him, he was absconding.
On March 14, the manager of the organization Parel Sheth opened the safe to check and found some amount missing. There was Rs. 48,000 inside, while the total amount should have been around Rs. 36.7 lakhs.
According to the police, the CCTV footage has captured Shah carrying a red colour bag but it’s not yet verified if the bag consisted of cash or something else. A team has been formed by the Sion police to trace Shah, who resides in Bhayander.
