An official with the Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) said on Monday that three men were arrested in connection with the embezzlement of Rs 20 crores in funds from the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). The accused have been identified as Aurrum e-owner, payment’s Rajendran Keezhedath Nair, its CFO, Gopi Kumar Kedia, and its Additional Director, Abhilash Vasukuttan Pillai.
According to a senior ACB official, the move came after a DJB Vigilance Department investigation revealed embezzlement of funds worth Rs 20 crore.
“The DJB had awarded work to Corporation Bank (now Union Bank of India) to set up Automotive bill Payment collection machines at various locations in its offices for facilitating its consumers in bill payments,” said Madhur Verma, Joint Commissioner of Police (ACB).
“The bank, on the other hand, awarded this contract to Fresh Pay IT Solutions, who in turn awarded it to Aurrum e-Payments. The contract was valid until October 10, 2019, but Aurrum e-payments collected the money until March 2020 “The Joint CP stated.
The Jal Board had given the contract to the above mentioned companies to collect water bills. The Jal Board had entrusted the work of installation of Automatic Bill Payment Collection Machines in various Jal Board offices to Corporation Bank (now Union Bank of India) for the convenience of the consumers.
Consumers used to pay the bill via cash and cheque. Corporation Bank further awarded this contract to Fresh Pay IT Solutions, who further gave it to RM e-payments company.
Keeping the rules and regulations in check, the contract for collecting bills every year was given to these companies only. The contract of these companies was till October 10, 2019 only, but RM e-Payments continued to collect bills illegally till March 2020.
A complaint was lodged with the ACB after a preliminary inquiry by the Jal Board revealed embezzlement of crores in the fund.
An FIR was registered last year after detection of embezzlement of more than 20 crores in connivance with officials of Corporation Bank (now Union Bank of India) and Jal Board.
Investigation revealed that RM e-Payments had collected the amount from various kiosks and brought it to its office at Connaught Place.
It embezzled some of the collected cash and deposited some in the Central Bank account. After that the officials of the company transferred some money to the Jal Board accounts through RTGS as per their convenience. The company did not transfer the entire amount to the accounts of the Jal Board.