Navi Mumbai bank cashier embezzles Rs 15.5L for share mkt investment, booked

George MendoncaNavi Mumbai:A bank cashier at GS Mahanagar Co-operative Limited Bank's Panvel branch has been booked by the Panvel city police for allegedly embezzling Rs 15.50 lakh from the bank's cash counter after a complaint was lodged against him by the bank manager on May 6.Nitin Thakare, senior inspector city police station, said the accused cashier Vikas Kadam, a resident of Palava city in Dombivli, has gone absconding after learning about an FIR registered against him by bank manager Bhausaheb Mhaske. A police team has been deployed to trace his location.As per the FIR, there are seven employees working in the bank's Panvel branch. AccusedKadam had been working with GS Mahanagar Co-operative Bank Limited since March 2018. On March 4, 2026, Kadam was transferred to the Panvel branch as a cashier and was entrusted with transactions of money transfer in the bank. On April 28, the bankhad depositedRs 70 lakh from Panvel branch to the bank's head office at Lalbaug. Later, on May 2, an official from the bank's head office came to Panvel branch with a cash van to collect the cash deposit. When Kadam and assistant cashier Daulat Raut checked the amount, three reams of Rs 500 denomination were missing. When inquired about the cash shortfall, Kadam gave evasive reply. When bank officials counted the money again, a total of 3,099 notes of Rs 500 amounting to Rs 15,49,500 were found to be short.Subsequently, bank manager Mhaske complained against cashier Kadam to the bank's executive director Avinash Rana and assistant general manager Sanjay Varkhade. Kadam later confessed he had embezzled the cash and invested the money in share market.