Two Arrested for Alleged Rs 23 Lakh Fraud in Perdoor Sanjeevini Federation
Udupi: The Hiriyadka Police have arrested a woman serving as the chief bookkeeper of a Sanjeevini Gram Panchayat Level Federation and her husband for allegedly misappropriating nearly Rs 23 lakh belonging to the federation.
The accused have been identified as Sugandhi and her husband Santhosh. They were arrested in connection with an alleged financial fraud involving the Padma Kamala Sanjeevini Gram Panchayat Level Federation (Regd.) at Perdoor.
According to the police, Sugandhi, while serving as the federation’s chief bookkeeper between 2023 and 2025, allegedly collected loan repayment amounts from members, entered the transactions in the repayment register, but failed to deposit the money into the federation’s bank account. Instead, she is accused of misappropriating the funds.
The investigation further revealed that the accused allegedly forged the signatures of the federation’s president and secretary on cheques issued in the names of various self-help groups and withdrew money from the bank. To conceal the fraud during audits, they are also accused of maintaining separate loan account books and creating multiple sets of records to prevent the federation’s executive committee from detecting the irregularities. Police said nearly Rs 23 lakh was allegedly siphoned off through these fraudulent activities.
Based on a complaint, a case was registered at the Hiriyadka Police Station, and an investigation was launched.
Acting on the directions of Udupi Sub-Division Deputy Superintendent of Police Belliyappa K.U. and under the guidance of Hiriyadka Police Inspector Gopikrishna, a team led by PSI (Law & Order) Puneeth Kumar B.E. and PSI (Investigation) Vitthal Malawadkar arrested Sugandhi and Santhosh on July 6.
Preliminary investigation has also revealed that the accused allegedly forged signatures and fabricated documents in the names of several federation members. Further investigation is underway.