Mumbai: MIDC police in Mumbai arrested a 44-year-old chartered accountant from Bengaluru, Pankaj Gupta, on Aug 15 in connection with an FIR that alleged he embezzled Rs 1.19 crore from an investment management firm in Mumbai where he worked as CFO for almost two years. Gupta allegedly deleted his past history on social media and contact details and dumped his old mobile handset after he fled the city with his family on learning about the FIR.Gupta escaped from his rented home in Kandivli in Sept 2025 after he received a summons from MIDC police following the FIR registered on September 25, 2025, asking him to be present for an inquiry. Police said he was employed in a Bengaluru firm after getting away with police verification because the Mumbai police criminal data record (CDR) did not reflect his arrest, though an FIR was registered. “The loophole is till a person is not arrested and his biometric and fingerprint is not added in the CDR, his criminal history will not reflected and can go unidentified during verification,” said the police.According to police, the company reportedly allowed him to repay the allegedly siphoned money by continuing to work, after deducting the amount every month from his salary, but it did not proceed properly.“Gupta had confessed to the company’s director that he had siphoned the money after the accounts department brought the discrepancies in accounts between Dec 2024 and June 2025. He even threatened the company that he will kill himself and blame the company if any action taken against him,” said a police officer of the MIDC police station.The FIR was registered against Gupta on September 25, 2025. Police said Gupta was tracked from his Bengaluru residence and was brought on transit remand after he was nabbed with the help of Varthur Police Station in Marathahalli from outside his residence at Rajani Ashish Apartments when he returned on his bike after dropping his child to school.Police said Gupta managed to escape for almost a year as there was no trace of him. DCP (West Zone-3) Datta Nalawade supervised a team comprising senior inspector Ghanshyam Nair, inspector Sunil Karande, assistant inspector Sudhir Rathod, Kiran Nawle and staff, who contacted Gupta’s old office colleagues, obtained his new SIM number and tracked his current Bengaluru location.During inquiry, police said Gupta confessed that he carried out 32 transactions from the firm’s credit card and current bank accounts to invest in share trading and claimed to have incurred losses.He is currently lodged at Arthur Road Jail.
