MUMBAI: A woman employed as an executive with an international online shopping giant has been booked for allegedly siphoning off Rs35.88 lakhs by submitting fake invoices of different eateries and hotels. The Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) police registered a first information report (FIR) against Sujitha Lambthure (34), a Worli resident, for committing fraud between 2017 and 2022.Police are yet to arrest Lambthure who had resigned from work in September 2022.
The company’s legal team filed the complaint against Lambthure after an internal probe pointed out the fraud that she had committed after she submitted fake invoices of restaurants in their internal audit. She was employed with the company as an executive assistant (process) from September 2017 to September 2022. “The case has been registered recently after a written complaint was filed by the company on August 7 this year. Action will be initiated soon,” said a police officer of the BKC police station.
The travel and expenses reimbursement audit team along with the Business Conduct and Ethics Team (BCET) of the company had earlier found out about this cheating. In the complaint, the company’s legal team official Ayushi S said: “During the audit, it was found that the vendors whose bills were provided to the company did not exist at the addresses given on the bills. Meanwhile, some of the hotels whose invoices Lambthure has submitted to the accounts found out that she is not their customer.”
Police said Lambthure had provided the company with fake screenshots of UPI payments she claimed to have made from her own account. They found her actual bank statements did not match the reimbursements she claimed due to out-of-pocket expenses during work. “During the company’s internal probe, they found on her company laptop logos of several reputed eateries and restaurants where they claimed to have placed food orders and the payment done through UPI,” said the police.
Lambutare resigned in September 2022, asking to be relieved immediately. Meanwhile, the company issued a legal notice to Lambthure on January 1, 2023. But she did not respond to the legal notice, said the police. Later, the company filed a written complaint with the BKC police in August.
Lambthure has been booked under the IPC sections for 408 (criminal breach of trust by an employee) and 420 (cheating and dishonesty) of the Indian Penal Code.
The company’s legal team filed the complaint against Lambthure after an internal probe pointed out the fraud that she had committed after she submitted fake invoices of restaurants in their internal audit. She was employed with the company as an executive assistant (process) from September 2017 to September 2022. “The case has been registered recently after a written complaint was filed by the company on August 7 this year. Action will be initiated soon,” said a police officer of the BKC police station.
The travel and expenses reimbursement audit team along with the Business Conduct and Ethics Team (BCET) of the company had earlier found out about this cheating. In the complaint, the company’s legal team official Ayushi S said: “During the audit, it was found that the vendors whose bills were provided to the company did not exist at the addresses given on the bills. Meanwhile, some of the hotels whose invoices Lambthure has submitted to the accounts found out that she is not their customer.”
Police said Lambthure had provided the company with fake screenshots of UPI payments she claimed to have made from her own account. They found her actual bank statements did not match the reimbursements she claimed due to out-of-pocket expenses during work. “During the company’s internal probe, they found on her company laptop logos of several reputed eateries and restaurants where they claimed to have placed food orders and the payment done through UPI,” said the police.
Lambutare resigned in September 2022, asking to be relieved immediately. Meanwhile, the company issued a legal notice to Lambthure on January 1, 2023. But she did not respond to the legal notice, said the police. Later, the company filed a written complaint with the BKC police in August.
Lambthure has been booked under the IPC sections for 408 (criminal breach of trust by an employee) and 420 (cheating and dishonesty) of the Indian Penal Code.
