The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police has arrested two men in connection with a ₹9 crore fraud involving bank accounts of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Shanghai Urban Construction Group (SUCG). One of the accused is an assistant manager at Axis Bank. The arrested men have been identified as:
- Ashish Khandelwal, 32 years old, Assistant Manager at Axis Bank in Delhi.
- Nitin Birmal Dongre, 36 years old, resident of Pune.
How the Fraud Happened
Ashish Khandelwal, who was working at a branch of Axis Bank in Delhi, misused his position and helped in committing the fraud. He shared confidential bank account documents of L&T and SUCG with fraudsters. He also helped change the mobile number and email ID linked to the joint account of the two companies. After that, he assisted in activating internet banking access on the account.
Once the fraudsters got control of the account, they transferred ₹8.94 crore through 94 separate online transactions into different bank accounts across the country.
How the Case Was Discovered
According to Additional Commissioner of Police Amrutha Goguloth, the fraud came to light when Gaurav Sharma, the branch head of Axis Bank’s Adhchini branch, filed a police complaint. He said that the L&T and SUCG joint account was originally opened in January 2008.
But on June 7, 2024, someone claiming to be a company employee requested to change the mobile number and email ID linked to the account. The bank accepted the request based on submitted documents.
Then, in July 2024, an application was submitted to activate internet banking on the same account—and that too was approved. Soon after, the company realized the account was misused and informed the bank, which then approached the police.
How the Police Caught the Accused
During the investigation, police used Call Detail Records (CDR) and tracked the fraud trail to Pune, where one of the accused, Nitin Birmal Dongre, was found. Interestingly, police discovered that Nitin’s wife, Shweta Dongre, was actively shopping online using the stolen money. This clue helped police trace the address.
With help from the Chandan Nagar Police Station in Pune, the EOW team arrested Nitin from Sai Nath Nagar, Pune. Later, based on his inputs, police also arrested the assistant bank manager Ashish Khandelwal from Uttam Nagar in Delhi.
Police believe more people are involved in this fraud. Raids are being carried out in different parts of the country to catch the remaining accused. The phones and accounts involved are under surveillance.
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