With stolen money, they made merry in Thailand

The court has extended the police custody of the accused till April 18 and rejected the bail applications moved by five of them.

The ACP said Siddarth Mehta and Daniel, who attended to calls while they were at MphasiS, had obtained information about the bank accounts of some US customers. Using this information, they called up Citibank in the US and completed the formalities for money transfer via the Internet.

Assistant public prosecutor D.T. Sonar told the court that the police have recovered cash and valuables worth over Rs 19.5 lakh from the gang members. Prijimon Philipose had opened five benami accounts using forged documents, which have been traced by the police.

Maurelene Fernandes, who was a MphasiS employee at the time of her arrest, had transferred money to benami accounts opened by Narayan Yadav. Both have admitted to withdrawing Rs 15 lakh, Sonar said.

Some gang members also used the money to buy household items and cars. The police have recovered Rs 1.5 lakh in cash from Daniel, while Mehta has reportedly admitted to spending Rs 20,000 on his tuition fees and giving Rs 34,000 to his mother.

The ACP said Bijoy Alexander has admitted that he gave Rs 1.5 lakh to Ivan and blew up the rest of the money in dance bars. So far, the police have arrested 16 persons in connection with the case.