NEW DELHI: A 27-year-old government employee engaged at the President’s Estate, along with his associate, were arrested for allegedly transferring over Rs 24 lakh from a colleague’s bank accounts over a period of three months, police said on Tuesday. The accused have been identified as Prakash Singh, resident of Delhi, and Sanjay Chakraborty, resident of Kolkata.
Singh allegedly transferred Rs 1 lakh every three to four days without the victim’s knowledge. He used the stolen money to purchase two iPhones, a motorcycle, a laptop, household items, spent Rs 2.25 lakh in online games, paid debts, and financed travels.
The complainant, a 59-year-old government employee working as Chief Household Assistant, said Rs 24.40 lakh had been dishonestly withdrawn from his and his wife’s bank accounts without their knowledgeDuring a routine visit to the bank for passbook printing, he discovered the fraud through UPI transactions.
The victim clarified that neither he nor his wife had ever installed UPI apps or had any understanding of digital banking systems.
“During the probe, detailed financial trail analysis revealed that Rs 16.05 lakh from the complainant’s wife’s account had been transferred to an account operated by Sanjay Chakraborty, while an additional Rs 4 lakh from the complainant’s account had also been routed to another account held by the same person,” said DCPolice (New Delhi) Devesh Kumar Mahla.
Police traced and arrested Chakraborty from Kolkata in West Bengal. “He confessed to receiving the fraudulent money on behalf of his associate Singh in exchange for a 2-3% commission. Later, Singh was also nabbed,” Mahla added.
Singh, who worked in the same section as the victim, had regular access to the victim’s mobile phone.
“Taking advantage of his colleague’s unfamiliarity with smartphone applications, he installed a digital payment app and fraudulently transferred Rs 24.40 lakh – Rs 1 lakh at a time every three to four days – without the victim’s knowledge. He would delete transaction SMSs and uninstall the app before returning the phone,” the DCP said.
Singh routed the money through accounts of his friends, including Chakraborty, who kept a small commission before forwarding the rest to Singh’s account. So far, Rs 2.25 lakh has been recovered from his accounts, police added.