Navi Mumbai: An accountant allegedly siphoned off Rs 40.58 lakh from a prominent construction firm's accounts by preparing duplicate bills in the names of genuine vendors, forging signatures and diverting the payments to the bank accounts of four of his friends.
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The Khandeshwar police have registered a case of cheating and misappropriation against accountant Balkrishna Dhadambe and his four associates. All five accused are absconding and efforts are underway to trace them, police said.
The alleged fraud came to light after a vendor, Rituraj Singh, contacted the company's marketing manager, Atriprasad Dubey, after finding that TDS had been deposited in his name despite his company having not undertaken any work for the firm.
Following the complaint, the company's accounts department examined its records and found that the bills against which the TDS had been paid had not been approved by the company owner. The bills, however, carried two fake stamps indicating that the payments had been made.
A subsequent scrutiny of the company's bank statements and Tally records revealed that the money had not been transferred to the genuine vendors. Instead, one of the payments was found to have been credited to the account of Rishikesh Hanumant R.
The company then scrutinised all vendor payments made between January and December 2025. The investigation revealed that Dhadambe had allegedly carried out 34 transactions between February 5 and December 31 and diverted Rs 40.58 lakh to the accounts of four friends — Rishikesh Hanumant R, Abhishek Popat Chavan, Aniket Vilas Kadam and Aniket Nanasa Patole.
According to the complaint, Dhadambe allegedly took advantage of the company's large-scale financial transactions and misused the names of its regular vendors to create duplicate bills. He allegedly forged the signatures of the vendors' proprietors and used cheques from the company's cheque book to transfer the money to the accounts of his associates.
He also allegedly made false entries in the company's Tally ledger to conceal the transactions and make them appear legitimate.
The company has now initiated a comprehensive audit through a chartered accountant. Police said the total amount involved could increase once the audit is completed.
"All the accused are currently absconding and efforts are underway to trace them," said a police officer.
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