Mumbai: ‘Ex-employee stole data from my firm, used it to set up own company’

Renowned Indian capital markets expert Dr Amarjeet Singh has made explosive allegations against a former employee accusing her of stealing data from his company EduEdge Pro and using it to establish her own competing firm EduEdge Pro specialises in skill development and skill enhancement in banking financial services and insurance capital markets analytics and FinTech serving prominent clients such as Deloitte Ernst amp Young and KPMGDr Singh filed a first information report FIR against the accused Garima Singh Makhija 36 in the Bandra police station on September 2Makhija is alleged to have forwarded sensitive company data including client details videos and invoices to her personal email address shortly after her resignation She is accused of launching a company named 1 World Siksha Solutions and offering similar skill development programmes at a lower cost potentially infringing on EduEdge Prorsquos client baseDr Singh expressed his concerns stating ldquoShe has not only forwarded the email to herself but has floated a company and is utilising all the material she has stolen from our company She has even been spotted delivering lectures in reputable colleges She has also approached some of my clientsrdquoThe case was registered in September under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including criminal breach of trust and under several sections of the IT ActAccording to Dr Singhrsquos complaint Makhija had worked with EduEdge Pro as a senior manager from November 2020 until October 2021 and then as a parttime employee from November 1 2021 to June 21 2023Dr Singh alleged that Makhijarsquos behavior had been suspicious since February 2022 when she started missing office frequently On June 20 2023 a memo was sent to her to explain her behaviour after she allegedly misbehaved with a colleague and the following day she resignedThe alleged data breach came to light when Dr Singhrsquos team examined Makhijarsquos official email account and discovered that she had forwarded a total of 32 emails to her personal account between June 12 and 22 These emails contained a staggering 2048 attachments encompassing crucial company data such as client information videos educational materials purchase orders from Deloitte participant lists payment details and even Dr Singhrsquos signature specimens GST RoC certificates and case studiesFurther investigation revealed that Makhija had established a LinkedIn profile for her newlyformed company with striking similarities to EduEdge ProIn response to the allegations Makhija filed an anticipatory bail application before the sessions court on September 12 which is currently under review So far no relief has been granted and the matter is being actively heard by the court The application asserts that she had forwarded the emails to her personal account solely for office purposes as a backup in case the official system encountered issues to ensure the continuity of workDr Singh has also filed an application as an intervenor in the case Additionally Makhija approached the Versova police station filing a complaint of mental and physical harassment against Dr Singh However the Versova police have not yet filed an FIR against Dr Singh as he presented evidence of their cordial interactions including chats where he referred to her as lsquobetarsquo and their normal communication during her tenure with the companyldquoNot only has she absconded with our data but it feels as though our entire company the result of tireless work by both myself and my son alongside industryleading experts is being pilfered Itrsquos not a matter of someone departing an organisation to pursue their own endeavours itrsquos the act of snatching our data and then courting our very clients with lower prices that truly troubles usrdquo Singh saidDespite repeated efforts midday could not reach Makhija by press timeHer anticipatory bail application reads ldquoIt is nobodyrsquos case that at any point in time the applicant Makhija had utilised the said data for her personal purposes The applicant states that in fact it is the practice of such companies to keep data in various email files so that if the need arises andor if one file becomes corrupt it can be opened from the other file and at the same time since the entire functioning of the complainant attracts various taxes they might be doing so in order to avoid disclosure of the same to the authorities concerned The applicant states that in view of the said facts the question of her having committed any such offence does not ariserdquoJune 21Day when Makhija resigned