The theft came to light following several complaints from customers stating their inability to register their bikes with the RTO
Rakesh, a 38 year old ex-employee of the Ducati Bengaluru Showroom has been arrested on charges of having cheated the company to the tune of Rs 5 crores. Rakesh, a resident of Kukatpally at Ranga Reddy district in Andhra Pradesh, worked at the VST Ducati bike showroom for 5 years holding a post of Head of Operations. He had resigned on October 20th, just 3 weeks prior to his arrest.
Fraud Comes to Light during Customer Complaints and Audit
As per the complaint registered, Rakesh has embezzled the company of Rs 5 crores. He sold a total of 21 bikes during the period July 2019 and September 2022. However, none of the sales were recorded in the company record books and nor was the amount collected from the sale of these bikes, collectively priced at around Rs 5.2 crores, deposited in company bank accounts.
In his complaint, CN Mahesh, General Manager of the company stated that Rakesh had collected the amount from 21 customers and deposited the same in various bank accounts which also included one in the name of ‘Office Facility Suppliers’.
The fraud was discovered following complaints from several buyers who brought their bikes back to the showroom on complaints that they could not get them registered with the RTO. An audit also brought to light the fact that there were a total of 21 such Ducati bikes sold by Rakesh, collected money from the buyers but deposited only a part of it in the company’s account while diverting the rest.
The audit conducted by the company found that these included 9 Ducati Panigale, 3 Multistrada, 4 Diavel, 2 Monster, a Desert X, a Scrambler and a Streetfighter. Each of these bikes carry a price tag between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 40 lakh.
Suspect Arrested but Insiders could also be involved
Though a complaint was registered and the suspect has been arrested, the police are also looking at another angle wherein some other insiders could be involved in the scam. The company should have followed certain procedures of sale such as inventory of bikes received, sales and delivery notes along with invoice details which should have been sent to the RTO. An inquiry is also being conducted into verifying authenticity of invoices while Mukesh the General Manager of VST Ducati bike showroom was not available for comment.
Ducati offers 22 bikes in India which are categories into sports, cruiser, sport-naked, café racers and adventure tourers. The company is also planning launch of new models Scrambler 1100 Tribute Pro, Scrambler 800 Urban Motard and V21 L. More recently, Ducati introduced the world’s most powerful and highest revving single-cylinder engine. This 659cc, single-cylinder engine has been named the Superquadro which means the super square.
