MUMBAI: Four employees, including the chief finance officer and driver, of a leading solicitors’ firm have been arrested by Cuffe Parade police for allegedly siphoning off between Rs 3 crore and Rs 4 crore from the firm’s accounts through fake invoices/bills.
The arrested accused are— chief financial officer Chetan Vora, head accountant Hina Kapasi, consultant Tejal Chetan Vora and driver PapukumarJha.
They have been booked for criminal breach of trust, forgery, and cheating. All three have been accused of financial mismanagement, unauthorised fund transfers, and creating false accounts to conceal their activities. They were produced in a local court and sent to police custody till Dec 16. The police are now looking for Vohra’s wife, an alleged beneficiary.
The investigation began after the law firm filed a complaint in June this year. An FIR at was registered alleging that discrepancies in the firm’s accounts had been found in an internal audit done between Jul and Oct 2023. It was found that the accused had been transferring company funds into personal and third-party accounts since 2020.
The accused also allegedly exploited the work-from-home arrangement during the Covid-19 pandemic, setting up a fake satellite office in Borivali, where fictitious consultants were registered and paid salaries.
