E-Paper
Treasury officer who embezzled over crores of pension fund arrested
Renuka Ram, a Daliganj resident, was arrested near the treasury office located in Jawahar Bhawan, and she has been sent to court for police remand.
Renuka Ram, the expelled accountant of the treasury office, who was previously booked with four accomplices in embezzling over 1.37 crores of government funds disguised as pension disbursements, has been arrested by Qaisar Bagh police on Friday.
According to the police, out of all the accused at large, Renuka Ram, a Daliganj resident, was arrested near the treasury office located in Jawahar Bhawan, and she has been sent to court for police remand.
Renuka, along with her four aides, has been accused of embezzling over ₹1.37 crore of government funds under the guise of pension disbursements, for which a case was filed with the Kaiserbagh police by treasury officer Rahul Singh on November 27. An FIR was registered against the accused under charges of IPC 420 (cheating), IPC 467 (forging documents), 468 (forgery), 471 (Forgery of a valuable security), and 7/13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. During the investigation, IPC 409 (and the Prevention of Corruption Act) was also added to the FIR, said the press statement by police.
Along with the treasury accountant Renuka Ram, her associates booked in the case are Vishal from Daliganj, his mother Gulabhi, Pratindra Kashyap from Kaiserbagh and Ramrati from Daliganj. Vishal, a native of Maharajganj district is a distant relative of the prime accused Renuka.
According to the FIR, fraudulent activities occurred between 2014 and 2019, falsely claiming pension disbursements for Vishal, Gulabhi, Pratindra and Ramrati. Preliminary investigations revealed that none of the supposed beneficiaries were eligible for pensions, and their identity documents were misused in the preparation of pension release bills.
The FIR also highlighted the prime accused’s inability to provide explanations regarding the verification of birth dates, address proofs, and other details of the beneficiaries. Furthermore, she failed to clarify whether the funds were genuinely used or withdrawn by the beneficiaries.
Investigations disclosed that a pension of over ₹22.71 lakh, issued in Vishal’s name, was transferred to Pratindra Kashyap’s bank account. In two other instances of embezzlement, counterfeit digital documents were fabricated to facilitate the crimes.
An additional ₹46.96 lakh was transferred to Vishal’s bank account, ₹42.31 lakh to Gulabhi’s account, and ₹30.4 lakh to Ramrati’s account. It was also revealed that Ramrati is Gulabhi’s mother, and the prime accused, Renuka, is related to Vishal, Gulabhi and Ramrati. Pratindra’s bank details were utilised to hoard the ill-gotten money, which was later withdrawn using ATMs in the Daliganj locality.
The FIR further stated that Vishal was fraudulently receiving two pensions - one for himself and another as a family pension. The fraudulent activities came to light when assistant accountant Mohit Verma presented a life certificate given to him by the prime accused, Renuka. Upon inquiry, it was discovered that the treasury office had no file on Vishal, raising suspicion.
Vishal, who initially disowned his involvement when served notices, later claimed that Renuka was his relative, and that he had visited Lucknow 5-6 years ago to work as help at her house. However, he did not appear before the internal probe panel, and his current residence in Gomti Nagar was found vacant. It was also revealed that the fraudsters used the PPO number of a retired zila panchayat adhikari to add authenticity to their scheme.
