Ludhiana: Twelve state insurance corp employees booked for embezzling ₹12.21L

The accused allegedly authorised and transferred funds to 33 fake policy-holders, absconding with the money

Twelve employees of the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) were on Tuesday booked for allegedly embezzling ₹12.21 lakh intended to provide maternity benefits to insured individuals.

The complaint was initially filed with the police on August 28, 2020, followed by another complaint on September 9, 2020. (iStock)

The accused allegedly authorised and transferred funds to 33 fake policy-holders, absconding with the money.

A first information report (FIR) was registered following the complaint of Sunil ESI Corporation deputy director administration Kumar Yadav who uncovered the fraudulent scheme.

The accused have been identified as Lakhveer Singh from Gujjarwal village, Gurmeet Singh from Dehlon village, Shahsi Kumar from Mundian Kalan, Lal Singh from Khanpur village, Vijay Kumar from Delhi, Minakshi, Satinder Singh from Phase 2 of Dugri, Avtar Singh, Parveen Kumar, Mandhir Singh, Manhis Passeza, and Ludhiana branch manager Jaswant Singh.

In his complaint, Yadav said an audit uncovered that between April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2019, a total of ₹12.21 lakh meant for maternity benefits had been disbursed to 33 fraudulent individuals. The embezzlers utilised fake IDs and accounts to transfer the funds.

The complaint was initially filed with the police on August 28, 2020, followed by another complaint on September 9, 2020.

Sharing further details, sub-inspector Jaspal Singh said an FIR under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code was registered after an initial probe.

He added that the investigation is underway and a hunt is on for the arrest of the accused.