Mumbai: Ex-employee extorts nearly Rs 2 cr from ship management company's MD; booked

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An ex-employee, formerly an engineer in a ship management company, allegedly extorted approximately Rs 1.97 crore from the firm's managing director in Mumbai. The extortion involved threats to expose a video depicting one of the company's vessels discharging untreated sewage in the United States' territory to the Coast Guard, as reported by news agency PTI quoting police.

Following a complaint filed by the managing director, an FIR has been registered under Section 384 (related to extortion) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code against the alleged perpetrator. The ship management company operates from Churchgate in South Mumbai, with additional offices in Delhi and Singapore.

The complaint details a call received by the managing director in June 2022 from an unknown number. The caller, claiming residence in Jharkhand, threatened to send a video to the US Coast Guard showing a ship releasing untreated sewage into the sea while en route from Mexico to the US, supposedly violating international laws. The caller demanded $2.5 lakh (approximately Rs 1.97 crore) to withhold the video, revealing later that they had previously worked as an engineer within the company.

Under duress, the managing director transferred the demanded amount from the company's Singapore office to the accused individual's account in Jharkhand. Subsequently, the accused demanded an additional $3 lakh, prompting the managing director to report the extortion to the police.

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Meanwhile, in a separate incident, Navi Mumbai police has registered an FIR against a 30-year-old employee of a cash management company for allegedly misappropriating funds worth more than Rs 3 lakh, an official said on Tuesday.

The accused was given the task of filling cash in bank ATMs, keeping its record and solving technical problems in the cash vending machines, the official from Kharghar police station said.

Between September 22 and October 4 last year, the accused allegedly tampered with a cassette of an ATM of a bank branch in Kharghar area and misappropriated funds to the tune of Rs 3,05,700, he said.

During the inspection and reconciliation of funds, the fraud came to light and a bank employee filed a police complaint.

Based on the complaint, the police on Monday registered a case against the accused under Indian Penal Code section 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant), the official said.