Travel agency duped of Rs 22 lakh

In a matter of 10 months, Bharat Atree lost Rs 22.65 lakh, thanks to one of his employees, who allegedly duped his travel company.

In a matter of 10 months, Bharat Atree lost Rs 22.65 lakh, thanks to one of his employees, who allegedly duped his travel company. However, the act would have gone unnoticed if Atree's credit card company had not informed him that he was reaching his credit limit.

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Director of Caper Travel Company, Atree suffered huge losses after one of his employees allegedly bought airline tickets using company accounts and then sold them at cheaper rates.

The accused is presently in judicial custody.

According to Atree, the accused — Siddharth Banerjee — joined his company in 2007, as a senior accounts executive.

According to the police, the accused allegedly created an email account and issued airline tickets through the website of a private carrier, using the company's credit card.

The police further said that the accused would then issue these tickets and sell them at a discounted price to a Varanasi-based contact.

In return, he would allegedly get cash deposits in bank accounts in the name of his family members.

"We found out that at times, Siddharth would issue tickets directly in the name of passengers and at times, issue fictitious tickets and then forward the PNR number by his mobile phone to someone in Varanasi," said Atree.

The police said that the accused allegedly invested in ULIP bonds and property deals.