According to reports, Around 66% of Indian companies have experienced at least one instance of economic crime and scams in the past two years, with the covid-19 pandemic prompting a significant increase in platform fraud.
In 2023 companies have been layoffs, Hiring freezes, and apparently, scams also hit the companies. Here is the list of a few scams that have hit in 2023:
CBI books EPFO official, 13 Jet Airways employees: PF fraud case
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered an FIR against an EPFO official, and 13 ex-employees of Jet Airways in the PF claims fraud case.
The FIR Copy read, “Bamne was found to be involved in various fraudulent activities. While working as Dealing Assistant in Accounts Section in Kandivli, Bamne received illegal gratification in his as well as his wife’s bank accounts through multiple modes of online banking from employees of various establishments in lieu of their claim settlement.”
“This aspect has been confirmed in the investigation by cross-verifying the online credit entries in the accounts of the official and his wife with the corresponding debit entries in the bank accounts of employees of various establishments, whose EPF claims were settled by Machindra Bamne,” the FIR copy added.
CBI has booked EPFO employee Machindra Bamne, his wife Rupali, and 13 senior executives of Jet Airways after a year-long investigation.
CEO held for cheating of Rs 18 crore in an education loan scam
A Bengaluru-based CEO of an online ‘data science programme’ firm has been held for cheating of Rs 18 crore in an education loan scam.
An officer said, “The firm was supposed to continue paying the EMI until the student secured employment, after which the responsibility would shift to the student.”
“However, the accused failed to honour the agreement. They stopped depositing the EMIs into the student’s account from the third month and demanded the remaining payments, stating that the agreement had been canceled for unknown reasons”, an officer added.
An officer further added, “The student, who had not completed the online course and was unemployed, found it unable to fulfill the payment obligations.”
A complaint has been filed against the CEO and other executives and accused them of cheating. The police arrested Geeklurn Sreenivas CEO.
TCS jobs scam: 6 employees fired, bans many staffing firms
Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said on June 29 that the IT and consulting company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has sacked six employees after finding them guilty of accepting favours from certain staffing firms in the appointment of contractual workers.
“We have sacked six employees and also banned six staffing companies,” he said in response to questions from shareholders.
He said, “The company received two separate whistleblower complaints — one pertaining to the appointment of business associates or contractual workers in the US, and one in India, in late February and March, after which it investigated the allegations.”
“The company will look at the whole BA (Business Associate) supplier management process and see what the weaknesses are and will completely tighten the process to ensure that we do not have such incidents,” he said.
Due to this, Wipro has a stringent contract hiring process. The company will be working on a higher frequency of performance checks.
PwC Australia sacked eight partners over tax leak scandal
PwC Australia has fired eight partners as part of an internal investigation into the leak of confidential government tax plans by another former partner. The company’s former chief executive is among eight senior personnel named and removed from the firm’s partnership.
CBI arrests chairman of Tirupati Infraprojects in bank-fraud case
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a Chairman & Managing Director of Private Company Tirupati Infraprojects Pvt. Ltd, Jag Mohan Garg. There is an ongoing investigation of a case related to fraud of Rs. 289.15 crores (approx) to a consortium of banks.
Income tax refund scam, notices slapped on 100 staff of tech firms
The Income tax department has recently issued notices that have slapped nearly 100 staff. These employees are from various tech companies, police, and South Central Railways.
Income Tax Department stated, “Many of them work in government departments, PSUs, and prestigious companies. It is also noticed that a large number of them work with companies outside the State, but have their PAN based in A.P. and Telangana.”
“They have claimed refunds of as high as 75%-90% of TDS deducted by the employer,” Income Tax Department added.
Work-from-home scam women lose Rs 8.2 lakh in alleged fraud scheme
In a work-from-home scam in Karnataka, woman Saritha S has lost Rs 8.2 lakh in the alleged fraud scheme. She is a resident of Sector 43.
In this work-from-home opportunity, the woman was asked to subscribe to a YouTube channel. She received a WhatsApp message about an opportunity that was providing the option to work from home and earn money.
According to an FIR filed by Saritha S accused under sections 419 (cheating by impersonation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Cybercrime Unit in Manesar Police Station. Additionally, the Police are investigating the case.
CA finalist calls out jobs scam: ‘Goldman Sachs recruiting’
Most recently, a CA Finalist Ritika Rawat pointed out a job scam on LinkedIn. She pointed out the following points on how it works:
A. You will receive a msg that your CV has been shortlisted.
B. Real ID will be created on the GS portal. (Confirmation will be sent from GS’s original email id).
C. Then for the Interview you will receive a Meeting link from a Fake email address.
D. After 2 rounds of interviews you will be selected for those fake Interviews.
E. They will inform you that you are selected but for joining you have to pay 40-50k for other joining formalities and that will be reimbursed to you during your job.