The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Avadi City Police has arrested a 34-year-old man from Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu, on the charge of swindling over ₹4 crore from the money given to an auditing firm by private firms to settle their Goods and Services Tax (GST) dues.
The suspect has been identified as 34-year-old Vetrivel alias Murugan.
Vetrivel’s wife worked as a staff nurse at a government hospital in Veppampattu on the outskirts of Chennai, the police said, adding that he resided in the area. He learnt about a vacancy at Annai Audit firm in Veppampattu, which is run by an auditor named Mohan Babu. Though Vetrivel is a school dropout, he allegedly lied that he completed B.Com to get the job in 2015, the police said.
Thereafter, he gained the confidence of his employer. As Mr. Mohan Babu was unable to focus on his work due to personal reasons from 2018 to 2020, he entrusted Vetrivel with the task of collecting money from customers and settling their GST dues. He also gave him his bank account details, password, and user ID, the police said.
The police said that Vetrivel allegedly diverted the funds given by the customers to his friends’ accounts, and later transferred them to his account without the knowledge of his employers.
He also allegedly issued fake receipts to the customers claiming their dues were settled. Some customers, however, received notices or faced raids from authorities saying they defaulted payment, bringing the alleged scam to light.
They reported this to Mr. Mohan Babu, who in turn lodged a complaint with the police. By then, Vetrivel had moved to Tenkasi.
The CCB registered a case and arrested Vetrivel in Tenkasi. He was brought before a court in the city and was remanded in judicial custody.
