75-year-old man held for siphoning Rs 1.14 cr from Somaiya Trust trustee’s account
The police said an FIR was registered in March on charges of cheating, criminal breach of trust and forgery. The complainant, Rajiv Rathod, is employed as a manager in the administration department of the Somaiya group.
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Rathod told the police that Shah and another man called Angad Chaurasia -- who worked as a domestic help at Kotak's residence -- have been their employees for 40 years. A 75-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly siphoning Rs 1.14 crore from the bank account of a 92-year-old trustee of K J Somaiya Trust by forging signatures. Victim Leelaben Kotak, a resident of Peddar road, is the aunt of Somaiya trust’s chairman Samir Somaiya.
The police said the accused, Bhupendra Shah, was working with the victim’s family for 40 years. He was looking after the bank accounts of Samir and his family members, including Kotak’s.
The police said an FIR was registered in March on charges of cheating, criminal breach of trust and forgery. The complainant, Rajiv Rathod, is employed as a manager in the administration department of the Somaiya group.
Rathod told the police that Shah and another man called Angad Chaurasia — who worked as a domestic help at Kotak’s residence — have been their employees for 40 years.
In his statement to the police, Rathod said, “On February 4, while I was in office, I came to know that Shah had gone to meet Kotak at her house without any reason. It looked suspicious, due to which I called for the details of Kotak’s bank account. On examining the bank statement, it was found that approximately Rs 25 lakh was withdrawn in 2019, Rs 18 lakh in 2020 and Rs 38 lakh in 2021-22.”
Rathod added that apart from the basic salary which Chaurasia drew, a surplus amount of Rs 15 lakh was found in his account. Money was also deposited in the bank accounts of Shah, his wife and other relatives, he said.
“Shah had been managing Kotak’s personal account… Samir Somaiya had entrusted him with the entire responsibility of this account, so both Shah and Chaurasia colluded and took advantage,” Rathod told police. He added that Shah was in possession of Kotak’s cheque book and allegedly forged her signatures to withdraw money. The money was then deposited in either their or their relatives’ bank accounts.
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When it was realised that Rs 1.14 crore had been siphoned in the last three years, Rathod informed Kotak and the family and approached the Gamdevi police station.
Senior Inspector Dattaram Girap said, “After the case was registered, the accused applied for anticipatory bail at session court and then at high court but his pleas were rejected.” He was arrested and produced before court, which remanded him in police custody.
“The accused claimed that he had borrowed money from his friends and relatives and as he could not repay the amount, he decided to siphon money from his employer,” said an officer.
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