Panchkula finance staff booked for ₹1 lakh embezzlement
Panchkula finance company employee booked for embezzling ₹1 lakh from accounts
A case has been registered against a former employee of a finance company in Panchkula for allegedly stealing over ₹1.07 lakh. The money was collected from poor women borrowers under a group loan scheme. The complaint was filed by Sushil Kumar, who is the branch manager of L T Finance Company in Barwala, Panchkula.
The accused is Ravi Kumar, a resident of Sangrur, who joined the company in July 2022. He worked as field staff and was responsible for collecting monthly loan instalments, known as EMIs, from women customers in rural areas. The company helps these women by giving them small loans so they can support their families and businesses.
In February 2024, the company started receiving complaints from some of the women borrowers. They said Ravi Kumar had collected their EMIs between April and August 2024 but never gave receipts or updates about their loan accounts. This raised suspicion among the borrowers.
Cash and UPI misused
To find out the truth, the company conducted an internal investigation. The findings were serious. It was revealed that Ravi Kumar had collected ₹1.07 lakh from these women—some in cash and others through UPI and online transfers. Instead of depositing the money into the company's accounts, he kept the amount in his personal bank accounts. Even though he was told many times to deposit the money properly, he didn’t follow the orders.
The company confronted Ravi Kumar about the missing funds. But instead of giving a proper explanation, he allegedly got angry. According to the complaint, he used bad language and even threatened the company officials. This made the situation worse and left the company no choice but to approach the police.
After confirming the facts, the Chandimandir police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Ravi Kumar. The case has been filed under Sections 316(2) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, which are laws related to cheating and criminal breach of trust.
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The investigation is ongoing, and the police are now trying to recover the stolen money. The company has also said that they will tighten their rules so that such incidents do not happen again in the future. They plan to monitor all EMI collections more closely and encourage borrowers to ask for receipts every time they pay.
This incident has also left many poor women borrowers feeling cheated. These women had trusted the company to provide them with fair services. Instead, someone they trusted took advantage of their hard-earned money. The finance company has promised to ensure that none of the affected customers will be punished for missing payments that were actually made.
The case has highlighted the need for better transparency in micro-loan operations and the importance of customer awareness. Officials have also requested that borrowers use digital payments directly linked to company accounts rather than handing over cash to field staff.
