Swiss francs to crypto bets: CBI probes ₹2 crore scam at India’s Geneva mission

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched a probe into the alleged siphoning of more than 2 lakh Swiss francs (around ₹2 crore) from India’s Permanent Mission in Geneva by a former accounts official, who is accused of diverting the funds to finance his crypto-gambling activities , officials said.

The accused, Mohit , joined the Indian Mission in Geneva on December 17, 2024 , as an Assistant Section Officer . Soon after taking charge, he was entrusted with a key operational role, physically submitting payment instructions and vendor QR codes to the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), where the Mission maintains its accounts in US dollars and Swiss francs.

The fraud is suspected to have begun earlier this year , when Mohit allegedly exploited this responsibility to manipulate payment processes. The Mission routinely makes payments to Swiss vendors in CHF against invoices that carry pre-printed QR codes containing the vendors’ bank and invoice details. These QR codes, along with payment instruction slips signed by the Attache (Administration and Establishment) and Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) Tushar Lakra, are physically submitted to UBS for processing.

As per established practice, multiple QR codes were often collated under a single bank payment instruction slip . Mohit, who was assigned to carry these documents to the bank, is suspected to have surreptitiously replaced some vendor QR codes with self-generated QR codes, diverting the payments into his personal UBS account instead of the vendors’ accounts.

Crucially, the acknowledgement slips attached to the QR codes remained undisturbed, enabling the fraud to escape immediate detection. Mohit also enjoyed account viewing rights, along with the Head of Chancery, Amit Kumar , which further facilitated concealment.

To avoid detection during routine reconciliations, Mohit allegedly doctored monthly bank statements , replacing his own name with those of intended vendors. These manipulated statements were then used during internal checks, effectively neutralising a key financial safeguard and allowing the misappropriation to continue for several months , investigators said.

The scam came to light when auditors flagged duplicate payments made to a local vendor, Ejey Travels , triggering a deeper review of transactions. The analysis revealed a suspected loss of approximately CHF 200,000 , equivalent to about ₹2 crore .

When confronted, Mohit reportedly gave a written confession , admitting that he had diverted the funds to bankroll crypto-gambling ventures. He was immediately repatriated to India along with his family, officials said.

Investigators noted that Mohit had made partial repayments before his return. He claimed to have paid CHF 12,830 to Ejey Travels for deposit into the Mission’s account, an entry that was subsequently verified. In addition, CHF 9,825 and CHF 28,000 were also credited by him to the Mission’s account prior to his repatriation.

The CBI has registered a case against Mohit under provisions relating to criminal breach of trust, forgery, falsification of accounts , and relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Officials said the Geneva Mission case is part of a wider pattern of government officials embezzling public funds to fuel online trading, gaming, gambling and crypto-related activities.

Earlier this year, the CBI arrested Rahul Vijay , a senior finance manager with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) , for allegedly embezzling over ₹232 crore of public funds and diverting the money into personal online trading accounts. In another case, the agency booked Hitesh Singla , a Bank of India officer, for allegedly siphoning more than ₹16 crore from 127 accounts including dormant ones which he allegedly funnelled into online trading and crypto dealings.