Five Government Employees In Jabalpur Booked For Embezzling ₹7 Crore Through Fake Claims

Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh): Five employees of the Madhya Pradesh finance department in Jabalpur were booked for allegedly embezzling nearly ₹7 crore by submitting fake claims under post-retirement benefit schemes, a senior official confirmed on Friday.

Jabalpur District Collector Deepak Kumar Saxena said that the accused were employed in the local fund audit office. They misappropriated ₹6,99,20,000 by generating and approving fictitious online claims.

An inquiry revealed that Sandeep Sharma, Seema Amit Tiwari, Manoj Barhaiya, Priya, and Anoop Kumar Bhourya exploited their positions to siphon off government funds. In some instances, they allegedly filed fake claims in the names of their relatives.

8-member committee formed

Following the investigation, the district administration lodged an FIR against the accused. Saxena further stated that payments of fraudulent bills were processed digitally using an official digital signature from April 1, 2021, to March 3, 2024.

A special eight-member committee was formed to probe the irregularities after discrepancies were detected in payment records.

The accused have been charged under multiple sections of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023, including – Section 316(5): Criminal breach of trust; Section 319(2): Cheating by personation; Section 318(4): Cheating; Section 338: Forgery of valuable security; Section 336(6): Forgery; Section 340(2): Use of forged documents; Section 61(2) and Criminal conspiracy.

The Omti police station registered the case two days ago and confirmed that efforts are underway to arrest the accused.