Mumbai Police Payroll Scam: 10 Ghost Employees Paid Rs 6.41 Crore Without Recruitment

Mumbai Police has uncovered a Rs 6.41 crore payroll scam involving 10 ghost employees who received salaries without recruitment. An internal audit exposed fake records, leading to an FIR against five former officials.

A Rs 6.5 crore scam has surfaced in the Mumbai Police Department after 10 people allegedly continued receiving salaries despite never being recruited into the police force. The fraud came to light after a change in the payroll system, following which a case of cheating and conspiracy was registered against five former officers and employees at Samta Nagar Police Station.

The case relates to the Mumbai Police’s North Regional Division. An internal audit revealed that the police department’s payroll system had been manipulated, with names of “ghost employees” — fake or invisible employees with no connection to the department — added to the system. Based on these fraudulent records, salary payments amounting to approximately Rs 6.41 crore were made.

Following the complaint, an investigation was initiated by the police. A police officer associated with the office of the Additional Commissioner of Police, North Region, located at Samta Nagar, Kandivali East, filed a complaint at Samta Nagar Police Station. The police are now investigating how the fake names were entered into the system and who actually received the large amount of Rs 6.41 crore transferred through these fraudulent records.

The suspected financial irregularities linked to the scam mainly took place during December 2019, January and February 2020, and later between June and September 2020. The fraud was recently detected when employee data was being transferred from the old Sevaarth payroll system to a new payroll system.

The police are currently investigating the identities of the 10 individuals and determining who operated the bank accounts opened in their names. The accused have been booked under serious charges including cheating, misappropriation, preparation of fake documents, destruction of evidence, and criminal conspiracy.

The 10 names linked to the fake employee records are Ramdas Bhogle, Sudhakar Kadam, Sarju Yadav, Bhagwat Bhosle, Gunaji Khavkar, Mahadev Haldankar, Rajendra Sonar, Uttam Thorat, Suryakant Patil, and Pandurang Kadam.

An FIR has been registered against five former officers and employees — Ramkishan Goswami (then Administrative Officer), Nagesh Talwadekar (then Administrative Officer), Vijaya Chavan (then Administrative Officer), Ajay Rathod (Head Clerk), and Amol Meshram (Senior Clerk) — for alleged government fraud, destruction of evidence, and conspiracy.

Legal action has been initiated against the accused under sections 409, 420, 406, 467, 465, 471, 201, 120(B), and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The investigation will determine how the fraudulent payroll entries were created and where the misappropriated funds were ultimately transferred.