Mumbai: Two employees of a shipping firm have conned their boss of Rs22 lakh by misappropriating funds. The owner has lodged anFIR at Vakola police station, claiming the ex-accountant, Christopher D’souza, submitted fake invoices and conned the company with the help of an accomplice. Vakola police have registered a case of forgery and cheating.
According to the police, the complainant, Naresh Agarwal (61), has accused D’Souza and his accomplice Rambali Yadav of orchestrating a fraud by submitting fake payment invoices and absconded with the amount. D’Souza was hired in 2016 at ASM Shipping Limited company at Santacruz (E), where he was posted in the accounts dept.
He would manage daily financial affairs and submit reports to the higher authorities when required.
During the annual audit, it was discovered fake invoices were submitted to the accounts dept. A detailed probe revealed the transaction details were flawed and the expenses did not tally. D’Souza who had resigned last year, was called for an explanation, but he never turned up, said an officer.
When all the records were scrutinised in details, it came to light 37 invoices and payment slips were deposited by D’Souza in the name of a company, Ramji Travels.
His firm owner, Agarwal, who travels overseas for business, used to hand over bulk of blank cheques to D’Souza to release the payment to the vendors, if needed. D’Souza allegedly misused it, He, along with Yadav, used the cheques to make payments to the said transport firm, which existed only on papers.
When realised he was conned, Agarwal approached Vakola police and filed an FIR against the duo. “We have a list of 4-5 vendors and Ramji Travels was not one of them.
The audit reports highlighted the fraud was executed without anyone’s knowledge. When realised, we approached the police on Saturday,” said Agarwal.
The police have registered a case of forgery and cheating under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and are on the lookout for the absconding accused.
