Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested a fraudster connected to a forgery case dating back over two years, involving the procurement and supply of PPE kits valued at over Rs 9.62 crore.
The accused had falsely utilised the name of the Uttar Pradesh Medical Supply Corporation Limited (UPMSCL) in Sushant Golf City to procure the PPE kits.
According to authorities, one of the suspects, Faisal Warsi, has been arrested, while another individual named in the 2019 FIR, Kamlesh Gupta from Osho Nagar in Manak Nagar, remains at large.
The police’s swift actions resulted in the recovery of 23,040 PPE kits with a total value exceeding Rs 2.76 crore.
These kits were found in a granite store on Rae Bareli Road and inside a scrap dealer’s warehouse on Kursi Road, on the information provided by Faisal Warsi.
Faisal belongs to Deva in Barabanki district, and he and his associates submitted a tender to a company, using the UPMSCL’s invoice to supply PPE kits.
The fraud came to light when the company contacted UPMSCL after delivering the goods.
Subsequently, the managing director of UPMSCL filed a case against unidentified culprits, accusing them of tarnishing the government entity’s reputation and defrauding the company by tampering with UPMSCL documents.
The FIR, which includes various sections, including 420 (cheating), pointed out that the purchase order bore the signature of MD (Purchasing), a non-existent position within UPMSCL.
An internal investigation further uncovered that the email copies provided by the supplier to UPMSCL had been altered by unknown individuals, as they did not match the original emails.
Additionally, it was revealed that the company participated in the tender but failed to submit their bid online within the stipulated timeframe, leading to their disqualification in the initial phase of the tendering process.
Further investigations showed that the supplier had delivered the goods to CHC Gomti Nagar, RMLIMS in Vibhuti Khand, and a location on Rae Bareli Road near the SGPGI warehouse, all of which raised red flags.
According to the complainant, PPE kits are not directly supplied to any medical unit, and there is no UPMSCL warehouse on Rae Bareli Road.
Therefore, the addresses provided for these deliveries were also fictitious.
The perpetrators aimed to profit unlawfully, severely damaging the reputation of UPMSCL and defrauding the supplier of over Rs 9.62 crore.
–IANS
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