Mumbai: Accountant steals Rs 15 crore from employer only to lose in online gambling

If you ever win a jackpot, go buy a house or splurge on yourself, but don't be like Kapil Ramanlal Khunt. Although Khunt, an accountant, came in possession of over Rs 15 crore after stealing from his employer, he lost all the money in gambling, according to the Borivli police. The cops suspect gambling, as they found a little over Rs 16,000 in his bank account. They are now looking for Khunt.

Khunt joined Mansi Shares and Stock Advisors at Shimpoli Road in Borivli West as an accountant in 2008. Chetan Shah runs the firm along with his brother Paresh Shah and the latter's son Deep Shah and was shattered when he learnt that Khunt had broken their 14-year trust.

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Police are now looking for the accused. Representation pic/AFP

Since 2021, the accused had siphoned a total of Rs 15,37,75,000 of the company's bank accounts. The Shahs learnt about this only when Deep checked the company account details on August 29. He came across two transactions of Rs 30 lakh and Rs 60 lakh into Khunt's bank account.

Deep grew suspicious and shared the transaction details with his father Paresh and uncle Chetan. Shocked, they checked the bank account details of previous years, too, and found that he had been stealing money since January 2021. There were a total of four transactions. They immediately informed the Borivali police.

Meanwhile, the Shahs confronted Khunt about the money and he told them he lost everything on gambling. He has been absconding since. Senior Inspector Ninad Sawant of Borivli police station said, "We have registered the complaint and transferred the case for investigation to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW)."

"We checked the accused man's bank account statements and found that he had only Rs 16,437 left and had spent all the money. He had told the complainants that he lost money on online gambling. We registered the case a day ago and are investigating the matter," said an EOW officer. mid-day tried to contact Chetan Shah, but he refused to comment.

Jan 2021
When the accused started stealing money