Three separate cases of fraud involving total embezzlement of over Rs 19 lakh were registered with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Chandigarh Police on Wednesday.

In the first case, a couple was arrested for cheating a Sector-44 resident of Rs 7,95,220. The case was registered on the complaint of Rajinder Pal Singh Dhaliwal against his brother Devinder Pal Singh and sister-in-law Manjit Kaur, residents of Patiala.

Rajinder told the police that his father executed a will in 1990 in his favour wherein he was made the legal heir of properties in Patiala and a flat in Sector 43.

His father passed away in 1994 following which Rajinder went abroad. Devinder, the compliant alleged, then asked him if the flat can be given on rent as it was lying locked. Rajinder agreed and his brother asked him to open a joint account so that they can draw money required for the maintenance of the flat.

A joint bank account of Rajinder and Manjit was then opened and it was decided that the amount of rent would be deposited in that account. Rajinder alleged that the entire money deposited in the account since 2002 was drawn by his brother and he returned to the country to find no amount in the account. Devinder also showed himself to be the owner of the flat while a GPA was executed in his favour.

A case of criminal breach of trust under Section 406/420 of the IPC was registered in police station Sector 36. Both Devinder and his wife were arrested and produced in the court today. Devinder was sent in judicial custody while Manjit was granted bail.

In the second case, an employee of Union Bank of India from Gurgaon is in the dock for cheating a bank to the tune of Rs 8.7 lakh. A K Thakur, Deputy General Manager, Union Bank of India, Sector 17, told the police that the accused, H K Sodhi, was an accountant with the bank and during his postings in the Manimajra and Sector 40 branches, he misappropriated the funds. A case under Section 420/409 of the IPC has been registered by the police, though Sodhi is absconding. “A complaint was filed in June 2008 and the case has been registered now after thorough investigation of the bank’s accounts when the fraud was proved,” an official with the EOW told Newsline.