Raising serious concerns over the financial safeguards at Indian diplomatic missions abroad, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a criminal case against a former accounts officer in connection with the alleged embezzlement of over CHF 200,000 (approximately ₹2 crore) from India’s Permanent Mission in Geneva. According to investigators, the accused siphoned off public funds by manipulating QR code–based payment systems and diverted the money into crypto-gambling activities.
CBI sources said the accused, Mohit, was posted to the Geneva mission on December 17, 2024, as an Assistant Section Officer. He was entrusted with the responsibility of physically submitting payment instructions to the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), where the Mission maintains its accounts in US dollars (USD) and Swiss francs (CHF).
QR-Based Payment System Exploited
As per established procedure, payments to Swiss vendors were made on the basis of invoices carrying pre-printed QR codes, which embed the vendor’s banking details and invoice information. These QR codes, along with bank payment instruction slips duly signed by the Attache (Administration and Establishment) and the Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO), were submitted to UBS for processing. Typically, multiple vendor payments were consolidated under a single instruction slip.
The CBI probe revealed that Mohit allegedly surreptitiously replaced certain vendor QR codes with self-generated QR codes, causing payments to be redirected to his personal CHF account with UBS instead of the intended vendor accounts. Crucially, the acknowledgement slips attached to the QR codes were left untouched, allowing the fraud to evade immediate detection.
Doctored Statements Masked Fraud for Months
Investigators said the accused also enjoyed account viewing rights, along with the Head of Chancery, giving him access to sensitive financial data. He allegedly manipulated monthly bank statements, replacing his own name with that of legitimate vendors. These doctored statements were then used during routine reconciliations, effectively neutralising a critical financial control mechanism and allowing the diversion of funds to continue for several months.
Audit Flags Duplicate Payments
The scam came to light when auditors detected duplicate payments made to a local vendor, Ejey Travels, triggering a detailed examination of the Mission’s transactions. The subsequent analysis pointed to a suspected loss of around CHF 200,000, equivalent to nearly ₹2 crore.
When confronted by authorities, the accused submitted a written confession, admitting that he had diverted the funds to bankroll his crypto-gambling ventures. He was immediately repatriated to India along with his family.
Mohit claimed that he had paid CHF 12,830 to Ejey Travels for deposit into the Mission’s account, and corresponding entries were found in the records. Additionally, before his repatriation, he deposited CHF 9,825 and CHF 28,000 into the Mission’s account, which are now part of the financial reconciliation under review.
CBI Invokes Stringent Charges
The CBI has booked the accused under charges of criminal breach of trust, forgery, falsification of accounts, and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The agency is also examining whether the fraud involved systemic loopholes or the possible complicity of other officials, either through negligence or active participation.
Part of a Wider Pattern
Officials noted that the Geneva Mission case is part of a growing pattern of financial crimes, where government officials have been found diverting public money into online trading, gaming, gambling, and crypto-related activities.
Earlier this year, the CBI arrested Rahul Vijay, a senior finance manager at the Airports Authority of India (AAI), for allegedly embezzling over ₹232 crore of public funds. In another case, a Bank of India officer, Hitesh Singla, was booked for allegedly diverting more than ₹16 crore from 127 bank accounts, including dormant ones, into online trading and crypto dealings.
The Geneva Mission fraud underscores the urgent need to strengthen human oversight, internal audits, and financial controls alongside digital payment systems—particularly at sensitive overseas government establishments, where the consequences of lapses can be both financial and reputational.
