Gujarat clerk arrested for embezzlement of Rs 11.60 cr in six weeks

Police said he was planning to flee the country with his family, and his booty, and was arrested from Mumbai where he had gone to seek appointment for a US visa interview.

He became a crorepati in six weeks. His fall came as swiftly. Paresh Panchal, appointed as a temporary government clerk, was arrested from Goregaon in Mumbai by the Gandhinagar district police for embezzlement of Rs 11.60 crore. The money was meant as grants to set up tribal schools in Gujarat.

Police said he was planning to flee the country with his family, and his booty, and was arrested from Mumbai where he had gone to seek appointment for a US visa interview.

Sharad Singhal, SP, Gandhinagar, said Panchal (28) was in charge of accounts at the Eklavya Education Trust and diverted to his personal Dena Bank account the money given as grants for the State Tribal Department’s Eklavya Model Residential Schools. “He diverted the money by forging cheques issued for tribal schools running under the trust. We have seized 96 per cent of the money, which also includes 15 kg gold,” Singhal added. He also bought three flats in Mumbai and a Wagon R car, Singhal said.

Panchal was appointed barely a month-and-a-half back on a salary of Rs 7,000 for the government-run trust. He quit the job and had planned to flee to US with his wife and parents when the case was busted. He was arrested on January 19, three days after the FIR was filed in Gandhinagar.

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