Kolkata Fraud: Businessman Nabbed for Siphoning Rs 1.5 Crore from Brother's Joint Account

A Kolkata businessman, Pawan Bhimsaria, has been arrested for allegedly taking out ₹1.5 crore from a joint company account by forging his own brother's signature. The complainant has also accused the police of delaying the arrest for a long time.

Kolkata Police have arrested a businessman, Pawan Bhimsaria, for allegedly forging his brother's signature to transact money from their joint company account. Burrabazar police station officers took Pawan into custody on Wednesday night. According to the complaint, he had been officially 'on the run' for a while, though his brother alleges that the police delayed taking action against him.

The case goes back to 2023. The complainant, Sanjay Bhimsaria, is a director at 'M/s SDB Developers Private Limited', along with his brother, Pawan. The company holds a joint account at the Bank of Baroda's MG Road branch in Kolkata. This account requires the signatures of both directors for any transaction to go through.

Sanjay alleges that in November 2023, multiple transactions were made from this joint account without his knowledge. He claims he never signed or approved any cheques, mandates, or banking documents related to these disputed transactions. Following this, he filed a complaint with the Burrabazar police.

According to his complaint, on November 21, 2023, several unauthorized transactions worth approximately ₹1.5 crore were made from the SDB Developers Private Limited account. Sanjay insists this was done without his consent. He also stated that due to an internal dispute between the brothers, he had stopped signing any company cheques or documents since July 2023.

Once he found out about the unauthorized transactions, Sanjay immediately informed the Bank of Baroda's MG Road branch. He requested an internal investigation to find out how these transactions were processed without proper approval. He also asked them to freeze the account to prevent any further unauthorized activity. However, Sanjay claims the bank officials were not very cooperative.

Later, the bank showed him a cheque that was used to approve payments to certain recipients. Sanjay alleges that his signature on that cheque was forged. He also suspects that some bank officials might have colluded with Pawan Bhimsaria to move such a large amount from the company account, though this is a matter for investigation.

The police have also been accused of negligence in the investigation. Sanjay claims that Pawan was shown as 'absconding' in police records, even though he was present at his home or office. He wrote letters to the Chief Minister and the Kolkata Police Commissioner regarding the delay. Sanjay also claims that Pawan has political connections and considerable influence in the area, which he believes is why no action was taken against him for so long.

Finally, the Burrabazar police arrested Pawan Bhimsaria on Wednesday night. He is expected to be produced in Bankshall Court on Thursday, where the police may request his custody for further questioning.