Surat: Dumas police have registered an FIR against 32 individuals and entities for allegedly siphoning off Rs 10.84 crore from a transport business over a period of more than five years, with the alleged fraud spanning from Jan 2021 to April this year.The complaint was filed by Jitendra Gupta, proprietor of JK Express and JK Transline, who said that a trusted accountant, Parin Tailor, misused his access to the firms’ bank accounts and online banking systems. Tailor had been associated with the two firms for nearly 11 years.According to the complaint, Gupta owned a total of 92 trucks operated through the two firms, with transport operations in Mumbai, Surat and Rajkot. Gupta would share one-time passwords (OTPs) received on his mobile phone with the accountant to authorise transactions, including payments to petroleum companies.The accountant exploited this access by manipulating beneficiary details in payment sheets and replacing the bank account details of genuine petroleum companies with accounts belonging to himself, relatives, acquaintances and other beneficiaries.The irregularities came to light after representatives of the two firms noticed discrepancies in payments made to petrol pumps. A thorough examination of bank statements revealed multiple transactions made to accounts that did not belong to the petroleum companies concerned.The complaint alleges that between 2023 and this year, funds from the transport firms’ bank accounts were transferred to several accounts linked to the accountant’s family members and associates. Money was also routed to Jay Kuber Transport, purportedly operated by the accountant’s brother and another partner, as well as to other partnership firms.Investigators have also been informed that fuel cards issued to the transport companies were misused to buy fuel at unauthorised petrol pumps and locations unrelated to the firms’ regular transport routes.Another allegation relates to inflated and bogus transport bills. The complainant alleged that additional vehicles were falsely shown as having been supplied to a client, with payments received against such bills diverted.According to the complaint, the total alleged financial loss stands at Rs 10.84 crore. Of this, Rs 8.59 crore was diverted through bank transactions, while Rs 54.82 lakh was misused on fuel cards and Rs 1.70 crore was routed to a particular firm.The FIR names the accountant, his wife, brother, sister-in-law and parents, along with several other individuals, transport firms and business entities. In all, 32 accused persons and entities have been named. The complainant has also sought an investigation into any other individuals or entities found to be involved during the probe.The FIR further alleges that the accountant and his family members acquired 12 trucks in partnership and a flat in Mumbai during the period under investigation.The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has been entrusted with the investigation. Dumas police have registered a case under Sections 316(4), 336(2), 336(3), 338, 340(2), 61(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).ACP (EOW) G A Sarvaiya told TOI, “We have arrested nine accused so far. They include main accused Parin Tailor, his relatives Pratik Tailor, Tejal Tailor, Gita Tailor, Bhupendrasinh Bhadoriya, Prahladsinh Katariya, Mahendra Singh, Priyanka Parmar and Manish Nayaka.“
