At least three officials were booked for corruption on Wednesday after an audit by the office of the principal account general uncovered an embezzlement of ₹40.51 lakh from the Nuh district administration where salary and other payments were made to ghost employees, police said on Saturday.
Police officials said that the scam took place in the office of Nuh’s district information and public relations officer (DIPRO) between August 2019 and June 2020 when payments were made to 10 people whose names were similar to that of actual employees posted there but had different unique codes, PAN numbers, bank account details and addresses.
Investigators said that after an audit which was conducted was conducted in 2023, a report was submitted to the Haryana government which directed the Nuh district administration earlier this year to take action.
Afterwards, a complaint was filed on Wednesday, based on which an FIR was registered against then DIPRO, drawing and disbursing officer (DDO) Suresh Gupta, accountant Hina Virmani and cashier clerk Krishan Kumar under sections 420 (cheating) and 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) of Indian Penal Code at City Nuh police station on the same day.
In the FIR, complainant Suresh Kumar, the present DIPRO has alleged that no vouchers, sanction order copies or cash book related to the 14 fraudulent payments made to these 10 people were ever found in the office and the same has been highlighted in the audit report too.
Inspector Jitender Kumar, station house officer of the City Nuh police station, said that as per the preliminary information available, the entire amount siphoned off was the ‘bonus’ disbursed by the state government for the employees.
“Audit has found that the overall amount of ₹40.51 lakh were diverted into bank accounts of these people. After further investigation, it will be clear why the actual employees for whom the bonus had arrived never raised an alarm,” he said.
Kumar said that they have asked the DIPRO office to provide them with the certified copies of all documents related to the fraudulent payments.
“We have also asked the banks to give us the details of the account holders where the money was transacted. On the basis of the documents, we will take further action. The scam amount may go up after further investigation,” he said.
Kumar said that Gupta had retired from service in 2023 while Virmani was currently posted in Faridabad and the clerk was posted in Rewari. “They will be served notice to appear for investigation,” he added.