Ex-director ‘siphons off’ Rs 3.85 crore from software firm’s bank account, booked

The firm has offices in Marol (Mumbai), England, Germany, and Belgium, police said adding that its head office is in London, where Gandhi’s family also lives.

According to police, Gandhi has appointed his two friends, Ratish Tawde and Bipin Mehta, as directors of the company to look after work in the Mumbai office, a few years ago.

He had also named the two as signing authorities to look after bank-related work for the company. In March 2019, Gandhi removed Tawde from the company due to official reasons and also served him a termination letter.

As per Gandhi’s complaint, despite being removed from the service, Tawde allegedly carried out banking-related transactions in the company’s current account by not disclosing the fact of his termination of service to the bank.

Gandhi’s company has even intimated the bank, but the bank executive ignored the same.

As per the FIR, in November 2023, Gandhi discovered that Tawde had carried out some transactions in the company’s bank account. When he was confronted, he admitted to having done the same and promised to return all the money.

“When I got an audit done, I learned that between December 2018 and December 2022, Tawde allegedly, by posing himself as a director, siphoned off Rs 3.85 crore from the company’s bank account for wrongful gains,” Gandhi stated in his statement to the police.

Police booked Tawde under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant, banker, merchant, or agent), and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and are further investigating the matter, an officer said.