MAPUSA
A senior government clerk with the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour (IPHB) has been suspended for allegedly siphoning nearly Rs 24 lakh from staff salaries over the past five years.
The accused, Pratik Gawas, who served as an Upper Divisional Clerk (UDC), was suspended two days ago following an internal inquiry.
The fraud came to light after a staff member raised concerns about discrepancies in loan and insurance premium deductions from their salary.
This triggered an internal investigation, which revealed that the deducted funds were being diverted to Gawas' personal account.
IPHB officials have lodged a formal complaint with the Panaji Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), seeking the filing of an FIR against the accused. According to the department, Gawas manipulated the system by redirecting funds meant for employee loan servicing and insurance premiums into his personal account with the State Bank of India (SBI).
The fraudulent scheme operated through a "parking account," where the deducted amounts from employees' salaries were initially stored.
Gawas, who was responsible for disbursing the funds to employees' respective loan or insurance accounts, allegedly substituted his own account details instead.
The UDC's fraudulent actions went undetected for years as he deducted varying amounts each month to avoid raising suspicion.
When employees questioned discrepancies in their loan payments, Gawas reportedly made direct payments and advised them not to escalate the issue to higher authorities.
A senior IPHB official confirmed that the department has asked the Finance Department to investigate the matter thoroughly and form a special team to identify all those responsible.
The UDC's salary and personal bank accounts have also been frozen as part of the ongoing inquiry.
While it appears that Gawas acted alone, officials have not ruled out the possibility of other individuals being involved, which will be determined through further police investigation.
Attempts to reach Dr S M Bandekar, Dean of Goa Medical College and Hospital who is also the Director of the IPHB, were unsuccessful, as repeated calls went unanswered.
The alleged fraud has caused significant concern among IPHB employees, particularly those in lower pay grades who were affected by the misappropriated funds.
