The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against a former accounts officer for allegedly embezzling more than 2 lakh Swiss francs (approximately ₹2 crore) from India's Permanent Mission in Geneva. The funds were reportedly diverted to finance his cryptocurrency gambling activities.
The Elaborate QR Code Fraud
According to officials, the accused, Mohit, joined the Mission in Geneva on 17 December 2024 as an Assistant Section Officer. His duties included the physical submission of payment instructions to the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), where the Mission maintains accounts in both US dollars and Swiss francs.
The Mission's standard payment process involved using invoices from Swiss vendors that contained pre-printed QR codes. These codes held the vendor's encrypted bank details. Physical copies of these QR codes, along with signed payment slips from authorizing officers, were submitted to UBS to process payments.
Investigators allege that Mohit exploited this system. He is suspected of surreptitiously replacing vendor QR codes with a self-generated one that directed payments to his personal CHF account at UBS. The scam cleverly left the physical acknowledgement slips undisturbed, leaving no immediate visible trace.
Concealment and Discovery
To hide the fraud, Mohit allegedly edited the monthly bank statements, replacing his own name with the intended vendor's name. These doctored statements were then used during routine financial reconciliations, effectively bypassing a crucial internal check and allowing the theft to continue undetected for months.
The scam finally unraveled when auditors noticed duplicate payments to a local vendor named Ejey Travels. A deeper transaction review revealed a suspected loss of roughly CHF 200,000 (about ₹2 crore). Confronted by authorities, Mohit provided a written confession admitting he diverted the funds for his crypto-gambling ventures.
Following the discovery, Mohit was immediately repatriated to India along with his family. Before his repatriation, he reportedly deposited certain amounts, including CHF 12,830 to Ejey Travels for crediting to the Mission's account, and separate sums of CHF 9,825 and CHF 28,000 directly into the Mission's account.
Legal Action and a Troubling Pattern
The CBI has booked Mohit under sections related to criminal breach of trust, forgery, falsification of accounts, and the Prevention of Corruption Act. This case highlights a growing concern where public officials misuse government funds for online speculative activities.
This is not an isolated incident this year. In a similar case earlier, the CBI arrested Rahul Vijay, a senior finance manager at the Airports Authority of India, for allegedly embezzling over ₹232 crore into personal trading accounts. Additionally, Hitesh Singla, a Bank of India officer, was booked for allegedly diverting more than ₹16 crore from 127 accounts into online trading and crypto dealings.
The Geneva case underscores critical vulnerabilities in financial oversight processes at overseas missions and the severe risks posed by addiction to high-risk online gambling and trading platforms.
