NEW DELHI: The mystery has remained unresolved for 18 years. Between 2005 and 2008, around 43 million Korean Won, equivalent to roughly Rs 17–18 lakh at the time, went missing from the Indian Embassy’s bank account in Seoul. The amount was withdrawn through 25 cheques.
And despite an inquiry by the Ministry of External Affairs, a CBI investigation, departmental proceedings and now a tribunal order, one basic question remains unanswered: where did the money go? The latest twist came earlier this month, when the Central Administrative Tribunal quashed the dismissal of an embassy official who had been held responsible for the alleged embezzlement.
MEA officially said that Won 43,269,861 had been withdrawn through 25 cheques. Three embassy officials came under investigation, Assistant, later Assistant Section Officer, Thomte Thangchinkhup; Drawing and Disbursing Officer and Attaché (Administration) D Banerjee; and Head of Chancery TW Sherpa. As per the MEA, some of the cheques carried amounts that did not match the cash book, while others contained fake signatures of Banerjee. A handwriting expert, the Ministry said, found that the dates and amounts on the cheques were written by Thangchinkhup, although the signatures were not genuine.
But Thangchinkhup told a different story. His lawyer told the tribunal that he had dealt with only three cheques , writing them on Banerjee's verbal instructions, withdrawing the cash and handing it directly to Banerjee. The other 22 cheques, he said, were handled by Banerjee “himself or through somebody else” about which he had “no idea.”
The Ministry also claimed that Thangchinkhup confessed to the embezzlement in November and December 2008. He said the confession was obtained under threat from his seniors. The Ministry lawyer “categorically denied” that allegation.
The CBI took over the case in 2009, registering a case on September 25 that year and filing a charge sheet in March 2011. Thangchinkhup’s lawyer pointed out that he was never arrested and that the CBI's laboratory report did not establish that he had forged the signatures.
More significantly, he argued that investigators never established that the missing money had actually reached Thangchinkhup. Searches of his bank accounts, his relatives' accounts and even inquiries into "the sources of income of his relatives at his village in Manipur" yielded no recovery.
And that brings us to the central mystery-- the money was missing, but nobody could say where it went. All three officials were initially charge-sheeted departmentally. But the inquiries cleared Banerjee and Sherpa in 2014. Thangchinkhup's departmental inquiry continued for years, and he was dismissed in November 2021.
He challenged that decision. And the CAT uashed his dismissal on September 7. The tribunal said Thangchinkhup “was made to confess under duress” and, in unusually strong language, observed: “In our considered opinion, the hapless applicant has been made a 'scape goat'.” The tribunal questioned why the two senior officers had been cleared, saying their exoneration “shocked our conscience” and that they “cannot escape their primary responsibility” for safeguarding the cheque books, maintaining the cash book and supervising the Assistant, who was "at the bottom of the pyramid".
The tribunal ordered Thangchinkhup's reinstatement as Assistant Section Officer with full benefits. But after 18 years, multiple investigations and 25 cheques, the most basic question remains unanswered: Where did the 43 million Korean Won go?
