The Delhi Police has arrested a former general manager of a private firm for alleged misappropriation of funds worth over Rs 2 crore using shell companies registered in the names of his family members.

According to police, the accused has been identified as Nitin Sainger.  The case was registered on the complaint of a company official.

The complainant firm publishes more than 35 custom magazines, including 12 in-flight magazines, in five countries— India, Kingdom of Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh and Singapore, they said. In its complaint, the firm alleged that Nitin, the then general manager, international sales division, in collusion with his wife Sandhya Singh, father Yogendra Singh Sainger and sister-in-law Sushma Singh, "dishonestly and intentionally" created false documents and together misappropriated funds of the company, a senior police officer said.

The officer said Nitin misappropriated funds of the complainant firm by routing them via three shell companies registered in the name of his family members— Global Media LLC, PR Communique and Media Friends — in conspiracy with Sandhya, Yogendra, Sushma and others.

Nitin's modus operandi was to misrepresent to the clients vide his official email, saying the above three (shell) companies were the international representatives of the complainant firm, police said.

Once Nitin received advertisement orders from the clients, he used to take payments in his shell companies.

He forwarded these orders to the complainant company through false invoices after siphoning huge margins from these payments, the officer said. "It came on record that the accused persons have cheated the complainant company to the tune of around Rs 2.25 crore till date. "Nitin, in violation of his employment contract, indulged in activities which were in conflict with the interest of the company and in conspiracy with other accused persons used the company's resources for his personal use," Joint Commissioner of Police (EOW) Chhaya Sharma said.

After resigning, Nitin joined another competitor company in 2017 and diverted around 25 per cent clients of the complainant firm there, police said. 

During investigation, it was revealed that funds to the tune of Rs 2.25 crore were misappropriated by Nitin through various shell companies in connivance of his family members, police said.

Relevant emails and their headers were also collected and analysed which confirmed that the email resources of the complainant firm were used by the accused through which he used to induce international clients to route their business through shell companies controlled by him and his family members, Sharma said.

 It was also revealed that Nitin created false bills through which he claimed re-imbursements of the expenditure incurred during tours and hotel bills of his stay abroad, they said.  The police arrested Nitin on Monday, Sharma said.

In 2012, he joined the complainant firm as GM, international sales, and left in 2017. Currently, he is engaged as a freelancer in Media Friends Company which is owned by his wife, police said.

Nitin was previously involved in a case registered at IP Estate police station with the same modus operandi which was filed by one of his previous employers— a news organisation, police added.