A CYBER fraud targeted at a public sector power distribution company in Gujarat has inadvertently exposed what appears to be laxity in legal procedures followed before transfer of large amounts of government funds that has now led to loss to the exchequer.
The Rajkot City Cybercrime Branch on Monday booked unidentified persons for cheating and impersonation of a public servant, after Kintukumar Shashikant Malkan (54), General Manager (Finance) of Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL), transferred Rs 45.60 lakh to cyber criminals who allegedly impersonated his boss, IAS officer K P Joshi, managing director (MD) of PGVCL.
Police said that of the Rs 45.60 lakh transferred by Malkan, based only on a WhatsApp message by someone claiming to be his boss, the police had managed to freeze Rs 43 lakh but the miscreants had managed to withdraw Rs 2.5 lakh of government funds by then.
PGVCL is one of the four regional public sector power distribution companies that started functioning from April 1, 2005, under the holding company Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL). PGVCL provides power to the entire Saurashtra-Kutch region of the state.
DCP (Crime) Jagdish Bangarwa, addressing a press conference on Tuesday, said that the transactions had been traced to someone in Siliguri, West Bengal, and efforts were underway to apprehend the accused persons.
The FIR, filed at the Cybercrime Police station, on the basis of a complaint by Kintukumar Shashikant Malkan, stated that around 1 pm on May 4, he received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number that had a photo of his boss, K P Joshi, as it’s profile photo. The message read, “Malkan it’s me KP Joshi. It’s my very personal number. Please don’t share with anyone. Saved it.”
Following this, Malkan stated that he got a call from this number which he did not receive. He then tried to call back twice but received messages stating, “I am in a meeting, please don’t call.”
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The very next minute, however, he received another message from the same number asking him to transfer Rs 45,60,904 to an bank account purportedly belonging to one Manisha Mandal, with the instruction, “Make this payment through PGVCL accounts right now and send me UTR number after make payment. I will provide you all formalities… No TDS.”
Malkan stated in the FIR that he wrote a cheque for the exact amount, dispatched an employee to the bank and transferred the money to the bank account.
This was allegedly done without any prior paperwork or documentation that is required before the transfer of government funds and that too, in such large amounts, as was confirmed to The Indian Express by the MD of PGVCL. Both these officials work in the same PGVCL headquarter building located at Laxminagar in Rajkot city, just metres from each other.
The FIR further stated that at 3:48 pm, Malkan received another message from the same WhatsApp number asking him to transfer another Rs 30,60,801, this time to a another bank account belonging to one Nitin, with the same promise, “After my meeting, I will provide you all formalities.”
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However, this time, Malkan decided to confirm the payment first-hand and so he went to meet MD Ketan Joshi in his office, who informed him that the number he was getting the messages from, did not belong to him. It was then that the bank and police were informed, leading to the swift action of freezing as much of the government funds as possible.
DCP Bangarwa said, “The Rs 45.60 lakh was transacted through various layers of bank accounts and finally reached an account in Siliguri, West Bengal. There, Rs 2.5 lakh was withdrawn through ATM and cheque while the rest was put on hold.”
DCP Bangarwa also said, “No negative role of the complainant has come to light but we appeal to everyone to cross-check the identity of anyone before transferring money to them.”
K P Joshi, MD of PGVCL said, “When Malkan got the second message to transfer about Rs 30 lakh, he came to meet me and I informed him this was not my number and we informed the police. According to our knowledge, most of the amount has been freezed.”
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Asked about the procedure to release such large sums of public funds, Joshi said, “The procedure is to create a voucher, take sanction for the sum from the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and then proceed…”
Since the FIR mentions that the miscreants told Malkan that the “formalities” would be carried out later on, The Indian Express asked Joshi about the possibility of post facto approval (retroactive). He said, “No, never. I never instructed my staff to do such things in the past. And yesterday, I circulated an office note instructing everyone to strictly follow the company’s procedures… This is the first time that something like this has happened at PGVCL.”
Asked about the recovery of lost funds and whether there would be any further internal action, the MD said, “We will try to recover the amount from the officer responsible. We will also initiate a departmental inquiry against the GM (Finance). I have asked the Chief Engineer to submit a report on the incident, the procedure and why it was not followed. After I get that report, we will take further action.”
