BENGALURU: An employee of a fintech startup has been accused of swindling Rs 1.92 crore in funds belonging to the company and its customers. An internal probe revealed that he had used the money to clear his debts and on online betting.
The firm has lodged a police complaint.Vivek Sequeira (33), a graduate hailing from Mangaluru, was working as a Customer Success Lead in the Customer Grievance and Complaints Department with the fintech startup with its head office in Koramangala 4th Block, since June 2019.
Police said Shishir Shandilya, an associate director of the HR department, has filed a formal complaint on April 16. The company in its annual audit for the financial year 2020-21 had traced embezzlement of Rs 1.92 crore and an internal investigation was launched into the matter.
“They had found that the money that was supposed to be transferred from one customer to the another was swindled by Sequeira. In a span of 11 months, from June 2020 to April 2021, Sequeira had transferred Rs 1.92 crore in multiple transactions to three of his accounts with two private banks,” the police said.
“After his role was established in the fraud, he was questioned by the management and he has told them that he raised several loans from various banks, but unable to repay them. Hence, he had committed the offence and had used the money to clear debts. Besides, he also admitted to having spent the money on online betting, causing a huge loss to his employer and customers,” a police officer said.