Odisha accountant, boyfriend held for siphoning off ₹97 lakh from varsity account

Mohapatra, a post-graduate who has been working at the university since 2017 at a salary of ₹8,000 a month was found to have siphoned off ₹97 lakh, of which she had transferred ₹50 lakh to her boyfriend Vikas Kumar, a Jharkhand-based engineering graduate.

Published on: May 4, 2022, 01:41:39 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Bhubaneswar: Since December 2019, Payal Mohapatra, a 27-year-old accountant working with a top private engineering university in Odisha would often visit two banks situated on the campus of the university with the money deposited by the students. Instead of depositing the money in the bank accounts of the university, she would deposit a part of it in her own account till last month when the officials at the CV Raman Global University on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar found out the truth.

A 27-year-old accountant working in an Odisha-based university and her boyfriend were arrested on charges of embezzlement. (HT FILE PHOTO.)

Mohapatra, a post-graduate who has been working at the university since 2017 at a salary of ₹8,000 a month was found to have siphoned off ₹97 lakh, of which she had transferred ₹50 lakh to her boyfriend Vikas Kumar, a Jharkhand-based engineering graduate, who had passed out from the same university.

Commissionerate Police officials in Bhubaneswar, who arrested Mohapatra and Vikas Kumar, said since December 2019, Mohapatra would visit the branches of HDFC Bank and Union Bank in the campus of CV Raman Global University with wads of currency notes for depositing the same in the official bank accounts.

“But instead of depositing the money in the university’s official account, she would deposit a large part of it in her own bank accounts through challan. When asked about the deposits, she would often confuse her superiors. They too, did not care to find out if she was actually depositing the money nor did the bank staff who could have asked questions about the large deposits in her account considering her modest salary,” said Rajat Ray, assistant commissioner of police in Khandagiri zone.

Of the ₹97 lakh that she siphoned off, Mohapatra allegedly transferred at least ₹50 lakh to her boyfriend Vikas Kumar through UPI, most of which was spent on online gambling. Mohapatra also went holidaying with her family to Srinagar with the money that she had siphoned off.

The embezzlement was known after the college authorities conducted an audit last month and found out about Mohapatra’s involvement. In the course of the investigation, she confessed to having embezzled the funds.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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