A former accounts officer accused of a Swiss francs scam involving India's Permanent Mission in Geneva has been granted bail by a Delhi court, with allegations linking the funds to crypto-gambling activities.
Key Points
- A former accounts officer is accused of swindling over 2 lakh Swiss francs from India's Permanent Mission in Geneva.
- The accused allegedly used the funds to finance crypto-gambling ventures.
- The court granted bail, noting the accused has been in custody since October 2025 and the investigation is complete.
- The accused allegedly manipulated payment instruments and made unauthorised withdrawals from the Mission's account.
- The scam was discovered when auditors noticed duplicate payments to a vendor, prompting a review of transactions.
A Delhi court on Monday granted bail to a former accounts officer accused of swindling more than 2 lakh Swiss francs (around Rs 2 crore) from India's Permanent Mission in Geneva to fund his crypto-gambling ventures.
Special Judge Vijeta Singh Rawat was hearing the third regular bail application of Mohit, who joined the Permanent Mission in Geneva on December 17, 2024, as an assistant section officer.
Allegations Against The Accused
The court noted the allegations against the accused, according to which he dishonestly manipulated or forged payment instruments pertaining to the Mission's account with Union Bank of Switzerland and also made unauthorised withdrawals.
"Despite the severity of allegations and well planned, sophisticated, consistent, repeated and mechanised acts which bore on the mind of this court while dismissing the previous bail application on January 22, 2026, it also cannot be lost sight of that despite investigation having continued for months, there are still certain queries that the Investigating Officer (IO) needs to respond to..." it said.
This, the court said, would enable it to proceed with the matter, but the responses would take time. On the other hand, the accused had been in custody since October 25, 2025, it said.
Court's Observations On The Investigation
The court said it was premature to pass an opinion regarding the alleged offences.
It said, "Prudence requires that the same should be considered at the stage of charge."
"At this stage, the investigation stands complete as per the prosecution, and the accused is not required for custodial interrogation. All material evidence is documentary in nature, and material witnesses have already been examined," the court said.
It said that the prosecution witnesses were government servants superior in rank to the accused.
"Nothing credible has been put forth to appreciate the apprehension either of tampering with evidence, influencing witnesses or evading the judicial process," the court said.
Bail Conditions Imposed
It granted Mohit the relief "subject to all statutory conditions on filing of bail bond for Rs 75,000 along with one surety of like amount".
The court further directed that the accused would not leave the country.
Modus Operandi Of The Alleged Scam
According to the prosecution, Mohit surreptitiously replaced some of the vendor QR codes with a self-generated QR code, which diverted the payments to his personal account in UBS instead of the vendor's account.
The accused, it was alleged, managed to conceal the diversion of funds by editing the monthly bank statements, replacing his name with that of the intended vendor.
The doctored statements were then used during routine reconciliations, effectively neutralising a key financial safeguard and allowing the misappropriations to proceed undetected for months, the prosecution said.
It said the scam surfaced when auditors noticed duplicate payments to a local vendor prompting an in-depth review of the transactions.
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