Naval auditor held for fraudulent remittance of Rs 6.33 cr

An auditor working with Indian Navy has been arrested from Karwar in Karnataka in connection with an alleged fraud wherein payment of Rs 6.33 crore was issued on production of fake bills and was transferred to bank accounts here, police said today.
The accused, identified as Suresh Hatle (53), was picked up from Naval office in Karwar following a 60-hour-long covert operation, Additional Superintendent of Police (crime branch) Vinayprakash Paul told reporters here.
Hatle was posted as the auditor in the office of Principal Controllers of Defence Accounts.
According to the Paul, Hatle in connivance with a storekeeper, identified as Rajkumar Choudhary who was going to retire soon, orchestrated the fraud. Both had worked together in Mumbai earlier.

During initial probe, Hatle told police that an amount of Rs 6.33 crore was transferred to two separate bank accounts in Indore on production of fake bills, Paul said.
While Rs 5.36 crore was transferred in one bank account, Rs 97 lakh in another one.

The money was credited in the accounts between July 2014 and October 2014, he said, adding the accounts were subsequently closed.
Paul said Hatle had told police that the fake bills pertained to electronic products. "However, Hatle's claim can be confirmed only after investigation," the officer said.
Police had earlier arrested Choudhary and a local CA, identified as Ramratan Singhal, apart from the manager of Sneh Nagar branch of Bank of India, Bupesh Joshi.

He said police are conducting a detailed probe with the help of Navy.