Mumbai, March 23: A former senior official of two Reliance Group Companies has been arrested for duping the company of Rs 16.9 crore. Mukesh Shah, a former director of Isha Buildtech and Isha Infratech, pretended to use the money for the renovation of Sea Wind building, owned by Ambanis, at Cuffe Parade which was never done, reported Mumbai Mirror.

According to the Mumbai Mirror report, Shah, a resident of Ghatkopar, went missing from September last year. His family members filed a missing complaint report in October. According to cops, Shah was working in Reliance Group since 1988 and was one of the most trusted employees. He went on to become a director of Isha Buildtech in 1998. Later, he also became director of Isha Infratech in 2012. He was authorised signatory of most of the documents including RTGS forms. Rs 1,200-Crore Fraud Busted by Hyderabad Police, Two Arrested For Conning Scores of Investors.

Both the Reliance group companies were responsible for maintenance of Sea Wind. In June 2018, Shah resigned from the company and stopped coming to the office. By the time, the company had appointed a new director, who started checking old records from 2017-18 and 2018-2019. The inspections revealed that alleged transactions were made from the company without any entries in the record. The money was allegedly transferred to many companies for maintenance and repair of Sea Wind.

However, the work was not done at the building nor any contractors signed for the work, reported Mumbai Mirror. It was found that Shah forged the signature of one of the employee and transferred the money. Later, an FIR was filed at Cuffe Parade police station for cheating and forgery.

“According to the information provided by the company director, we got hold of the accused when he came to the Reliance office. He has confessed to the crime and revealed that since September he had not gone home. His family had also lodged a missing person’s complaint with Ghatkopar police on October 22, 2018,” said a police officer to Mumbai Mirror. The accused was hiding in Mira Road, police said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 23, 2019 06:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).