Govt employee in President’s Estate held for duping colleague of Rs 24.4 lakh

New Delhi, Jun 17: A government employee posted in the President’s Estate has been arrested for siphoning Rs 24.4 lakh from his colleague’s bank accounts by exploiting the latter’s lack of familiarity with mobile banking apps, an official said on Tuesday.
The accused, Prakash Singh (27), was working in the same department as the 59-year-old victim, Surender Kumar, a chief household assistant in the household section of the President’s Estate.
“Prakash used his proximity to the victim, who worked in the same section, to frequently access his mobile phone under various pretexts. Taking advantage of the victim’s unfamiliarity with digital apps, Singh installed a mobile payment application on his phone and quietly linked it to his bank accounts,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Devesh Mahla said.
Over three months, Singh allegedly transferred Rs 1 lakh at a time every few days, accumulating a total of Rs 24.40 lakh. To remain undetected, he would delete all transaction-related messages and uninstall the app before handing the phone back, the officer added.
The other accused, identified as Sanjay Chakraborty, was apprehended from Kolkata for aiding the fraud by receiving and laundering the stolen funds.
“The incident came to light when the victim discovered during a routine bank visit that Rs 24.40 lakh had been withdrawn from his and his wife’s bank accounts through unauthorised UPI transactions. Neither Kumar nor his wife had ever used mobile payment apps,” the DCP added.
The siphoned money was routed through multiple accounts, including that of Chakraborty, who received over Rs 20 lakh and retained a small commission before passing on the rest to Singh.
A case was registered under Section 318(4) of the BNS (cheating) and an investigation was launched. Chakraborty was first apprehended in Kolkata and his interrogation led to the arrest of Singh in Delhi.
“Prakash Singh used the cheated money to fund a lavish lifestyle. He purchased two smartphones, a motorcycle and a laptop, spent Rs 2.25 lakh on mobile gaming and cleared personal debts. He also went on vacations and shopping sprees using the stolen funds,” the officer added.
He said about Rs 2.25 lakh was recovered from Singh’s bank account. Efforts are ongoing to trace the remaining siphoned amount and identify any additional co-conspirators involved in the laundering, he added. (Agencies)

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