The police have booked an employee of a Mohali firm for allegedly embezzling Rs 15.63 lakh of the company’s funds, and then impersonating an excise and taxation officer to get away with the pilferage.
The accused, identified as Ritika Sachdeva of Chandigarh, is on the run.
In his complaint to the police, Harpreet Sachdeva, director of Hi Tech Industries Limited, a firm involved in manufacture of parts and accessories for motor vehicles and their engines, said they had hired Ritika in 2013 to look after expenditure on transportation of goods in trucks.
His brother, Rupinder Sachdeva, also a director at the firm, said during an audit, they discovered that Ritika took a total of Rs 36.10 lakh from their firm’s accountant, Satpal Chopra, for expenditure on transportation of goods between December 1 and 23, 2017.
He alleged that Ritika prepared fake documents and made false entries to misappropriate Rs 15.63 lakh of the amount. When they confronted Ritika with the fraud, Rupinder said, Ritika started sending text messages on his mobile phone while impersonating Baldeep Kaur, joint director, excise and taxation, Patiala, and deputy excise and taxation commissioner (DETC), GST.
Accused Ritika Sachdeva allegedly prepared fake documents and made false entries to misappropriate Rs 15.63 lakh.
Claiming that she was Ritika’s relative, posing as Baldeep, she asked him to reach a compromise with her, while assuring no more trouble in future.
Rupinder said, “After constant messages from the official, I asked her to meet me to reach a consensus, but she refused. Subsequently, we contacted the taxation office, and got to talk to the actual officer, who expressed surprise when she was apprised of the matter. The officer also informed us that she was contacted several times by various businesses informing her that Ritika had used her name to get discounts.”
On her part, Baldeep said, “I am unware of the matter. Nobody has brought this to my notice to date.”
Acting on the firm directors’ complaint, police have booked Ritika under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) of the Indian Penal Code at the Phase-11 police station. Police said they had initiated investigation to trace Ritika.
