Ex-ISB employee held for fraud

HYDERABAD: A former employee of the Indian School of Business (ISB) and her sister have been arrested by Cyberabad police for allegedly duping the institute of `79 lakh. Mustaq Sultana of Toli Chowki, an ex-employee, who is an MBA graduate, during her three-year tenure, had transferred the institute’s money into her sister’s bank account in the name of guest lecture fee, said police.Mustaq joined as an assistant manager in the HR department of ISB in 2006. She used to draw `6.50 lakh per annum. In 2008, Mustaq Sultana made her sister, Zaheera Sultana, open an account in ICICI bank. “After opening the account, Mustaq started depositing huge amounts of money into the account in the name of guest faculty fee,” Raidurg police inspector M Ravi Chandan Reddy said. The fraudulent transfer of funds came into light in 2009 during an internal audit of the institute. The institute authorities narrowed down on Mustaq, who agreed to have committed the fraud.“Mustaq quit the job after the fraud came to light and agreed to pay back the amount and requested the management to give her some time,” the inspector said.However, Mustaq did not tell the ISB authorities that she had taken a loan of `30 lakh from ICICI which was given to her husband for investing in shares. She later sold away the house for a cheaper price citing slump in real estate and after clearing the bank loan, she paid about `15 lakh to ISB. “Mustaq assured to clear the dues in 4-5 months but she has not repaid them since the past one year, which prompted ISB officials to approach us,” the inspector said. “Zaheera was aware that the bank account was created on her name for the fraud,” Ravi Chandan said. On Friday last, ISB’s HR officials have registered a case following which Raidurg police registered cases and arrested Mustaq and her sister Zaheera on Tuesday. Police have recovered hard disks of the computer through which the institute’s amount had been transferred to the bank account.