An FIR has been filed against Ramesh Prabhu, ex-Chief Financial Officer of Gameskraft Technologies, who earlier confessed to misappropriating funds for personal trading, leading to losses over ₹250 crore for the company, according to a report by MoneyControl.
On 5 March, Ramesh Prabhu sent a ‘voluntary’ confession email in which he confessed to the misuse of company funds over a period of three to four years to finance personal investments in futures and options (F&O) trading.
Who is Ramesh Prabhu?
47-year-old Ramesh Prabhu is a Chartered Accountant who joined Gameskraft as CFO in 2018. Before joining Gameskraft, he co-founded Three Wheels United and served as the company’s CEO. He venture aimed to provide affordable loans for autorickshaw drivers.
The FIR filed by a Bengaluru resident on September 9, following a complaint by Gameskraft, revealed that Prabhu accepted full responsibility for the misconduct, admitting that his actions were a serious breach of trust. He also stressed that no other employees were involved in or aware of the scheme, the report said.
What are the allegations against Ramesh Prabhu?
According to the FIR cited in the report, Gameskraft claimed that Prabhu “dishonestly” diverted funds worth ₹270.43 crore over a period of nearly five years and used these funds for his own trading activities without the company’s permission.
It further lists several offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), aligning with provisions of the Indian Penal Code. These include theft (Section 303 BNS / 378 IPC), criminal breach of trust (Section 316 BNS / 405 IPC), fraudulent concealment of property (Section 323 BNS / 424 IPC), forgery (Sections 335 and 336 BNS / 463 and 464 IPC), and falsification of accounts (Section 344 BNS / 477A IPC).
Key details of the complaint
As per the complaint, the company conducted a thorough “fact-finding” review after Prabhu’s disclosure, which showed that he had carried out unauthorised financial transactions amounting to ₹231.39 crore between FY20 and FY25.
Out of this amount, ₹211.53 crore was incorrectly recorded as ‘investments’ in the company’s books, which had a carrying amount of ₹250.57 crore as of 31 March 2024. Additionally, ₹19.86 crore was listed as ‘investments’ in FY25, FIR stated. As a result, Gameskraft had to write off ₹270.43 crore in its financial statements for FY25.
The probe carried out by the firm also found that Prabhu performed these trades through a bank account at RBL Bank, which was solely under his control. He allegedly diverted funds via this account to his personal bank account, while it was recorded as ‘investments’ in the company’s accounts, the report said.
Prabhu also tampered with the firm’s bank statements, producing fake mutual fund statements as evidence of investments to cover up these transactions, it added.
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