Volkswagen Ahmedabad dealership CEO alleges ₹87.5 lakh fraud by employees

In a major case of corporate fraud, the CEO of an authorised Volkswagen dealership in Ahmedabad has lodged a police complaint alleging that a group of employees conspired to tamper with vehicle parts and siphon off inventory, causing financial losses to the tune of ₹87.54 lakh over two years.

The complaint, filed by Manjeet Sawant, CEO of Automark Motors Limited, has accused at least seven former and current employees of orchestrating a systematic fraud at the company's storehouse between June 2022 and April 2024. The alleged scam surfaced during an internal audit conducted earlier this year.

In his complaint to the Sarkhej police, Sawant, a long-time executive at the firm, stated that Automark Motors Limited, an authorised dealer of Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd, detected significant discrepancies during a wall-to-wall audit of its spare parts store in April 2024. The audit revealed a stock deficit of ₹54.40 lakh, while another ₹33.13 lakh worth of inventory was reportedly damaged or tampered with. The total financial loss amounted to ₹87.54 lakh, according to the FIR.

The FIR, registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), names the following individuals as accused:

• Calvin Vipin, former store manager, Maninagar East
• Pratik Jayprakash Sharma, service head, Bopal
• Ruchir Shah, Store department, Ellisbridge
• Ashif Ahmedmian Syed, store department, Sarkhej
• Vipul Singh Chauhan, Store department, Sanathal
• Prakash Kumar Jhala, new car department, Bandarkha
• Sanjay Thakor, new car department, Sanand

Sawant alleged that the accused tampered with genuine parts, swapped old parts with new ones, and manipulated records to conceal the losses. The complaint was supported by testimonies from Rajendrabhai Parmar, a storekeeper who first raised suspicion, along with colleagues Anil Rathod and Bhavesh Prajapati, all of whom are cooperating with the investigation.

A public complaint was also registered under Section 176 of the Indian Civil Protection Act, 2023. Following approval from the Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad, a formal FIR was lodged, and the case is now under investigation by officers of the Sarkhej police station.

As of now, no arrests have been made. Authorities are in the process of collecting evidence, including audit reports, CCTV footage, and internal communication records. The accused are expected to be summoned for questioning in the coming days.