Shockingly, reports reveal that around 66% of Indian companies have fallen victim to economic crimes and fraudulent activities within the past two years, with the disruptive influence of the Covid-19 pandemic contributing to a significant rise in platform fraud.
Amidst this unsettling landscape, let's delve into the intriguing world of scams that have shaken companies in 2023, highlighting the deceptive tactics employed and the repercussions faced by unsuspecting organizations.
TCS jobs scam: 6 employees fired, bans many staffing firms
Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said on June 29 that the IT and consulting company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has sacked six employees after finding them guilty of accepting favours from certain staffing firms in the appointment of contractual workers.
“We have sacked six employees and also banned six staffing companies,” he said in response to questions from shareholders.
He said, “The company received two separate whistleblower complaints — one pertaining to the appointment of business associates or contractual workers in the US, and one in India, in late February and March, after which it investigated the allegations.”
“The company will look at the whole BA (Business Associate) supplier management process and see what the weaknesses are and will completely tighten the process to ensure that we do not have such incidents,” he said.
Due to this, Wipro has a stringent contract hiring process. The company will be working on a higher frequency of performance checks.
PwC Australia sacked eight partners over tax leak scandal :
PwC Australia has fired eight partners as part of an internal investigation into the leak of confidential government tax plans by another former partner. The company’s former chief executive is among eight senior personnel named and removed from the firm’s partnership.
13 Jet Airways employees: PF fraud case :
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered an FIR against an EPFO official, and 13 ex-employees of Jet Airways in the PF claims fraud case.
The FIR Copy read, “Bamne was found to be involved in various fraudulent activities. While working as Dealing Assistant in Accounts Section in Kandivli, Bamne received illegal gratification in his as well as his wife’s bank accounts through multiple modes of online banking from employees of various establishments in lieu of their claim settlement.”
“This aspect has been confirmed in the investigation by cross-verifying the online credit entries in the accounts of the official and his wife with the corresponding debit entries in the bank accounts of employees of various establishments, whose EPF claims were settled by Machindra Bamne,” the FIR copy added.
CBI has booked EPFO employee Machindra Bamne, his wife Rupali, and 13 senior executives of Jet Airways after a year-long investigation.
Income Tax department
The department of income tax has recently sent out letters that have slapped almost 100 employees. These employees are from various tech companies, police, and South Central Railways.
Income Tax Department stated, “Many of them work in government departments, PSUs, and prestigious companies. It is also noticed that a large number of them work with companies outside the State, but have their PAN based in A.P. and Telangana.”
“They have claimed refunds of as high as 75%-90% of TDS deducted by the employer,” Income Tax Department added.
Work from home
In Karnataka, a woman named Saritha S lost Rs 8.2 lakh in a claimed work-from-home scam. In this chance to work from home, the woman had to sign up for a YouTube account. She got a message on WhatsApp about a chance to work from home and make money.
According to a First Information Report (FIR) made by Saritha S. under sections 419 (cheating by imitation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Cybercrime Unit in the Manesar Police Station, she was charged of both of these crimes. Also, the police are looking into the case.
