Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Nov 13: A 30-year-old cash custodian working with a private cash management service and in-charge of depositing money in ATM machines was arrested by Kumaraswamy Layout police for swindling over Rs 1.4 crore in the last five years.

The accused Shivakumar, is a native of Kollegala in Chamarajanagar district and was residing in JP Nagar after he joined Writers Safeguard Pvt. Ltd. in March 2013. In October 2017, the firm realized that they could not account Rs 42.9 lakh while auditing and suspected involvement of Shivakumar and filed a police complaint.

However, the company realized the quantum of theft only after Shivakumar’s confession, after being arrested.

According to the police, Shivakumar would deposit only 80 per cent of the cash in ATMs and pocket the rest. He would then manipulate records to show that the amount is deposited in full.

Being a custodian, Shivakumar had keys of ATMs and also knew passwords. He would misuse his credentials to steal cash whenever the security guard was not present.

To avoid suspicion, Shivakumar used to lend the stolen money to his friends and relatives and ask it back from them whenever required.

Based on his information, the police recovered Rs 91 lakh from his circle of friends.

The firm grew suspicious when Shivakumar did not come to office from October 2 and when they found funds missing while auditing. However, Shivakumar returned to office a week back as no one from his office called to question about missing funds. He was immediately handed over to the police.

As the security breech is serious, the police are further investigating the case to find if there is an involvement of other employees.