₹3 cr embezzlement at St Xavier’s Loyola: 3-year jail for 3 accused

In a major verdict in the ₹3.21 crore embezzlement case at Ahmedabad’s St Xavier’s Loyola School, a local court has sentenced three accused, including the school’s former accountant, to three years of rigorous imprisonment each.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate D H Khambhati pronounced the judgment, convicting Manisha Shankarbhai Vasava, Dhiren Ashwinbhai Adhikari and Jayesh Sunilkumar Vaswani for their roles in the financial fraud. The court took serious note of what it described as a grave breach of trust committed against an educational institution.

As per the case details, St Xavier’s principal filed a complaint on January 31, 2020, after discrepancies surfaced during an audit. Manisha Vasava, who had been serving as the school’s accountant for nearly 15 years and was in charge of handling all financial records, came under scrutiny when auditors sought detailed account statements.

The investigation revealed that funds were siphoned off from school accounts using forged or unauthorised signatures of a former principal. It was also found that ₹33.65 lakh, including cash fees collected from students and parents, had not been deposited into the school’s official accounts.

As the probe deepened, authorities uncovered a larger conspiracy involving the transfer and misappropriation of funds, ultimately establishing that a total of ₹3.21 crore had been embezzled. During the trial, the prosecution presented substantial documentary and financial evidence to substantiate the charges.

After examining the material on record and hearing arguments from both sides, the court held the accused guilty and imposed three years of rigorous imprisonment on each of them, bringing closure to one of the city’s most sensational school financial fraud cases.