CBI Uncovers Crypto-Linked Fraud at India’s Geneva Mission

Key Highlights

Former accounts officer at India’s Geneva Mission diverted over CHF 200,000 by manipulating QR-code-based bank payments.
Fraud remained hidden for months after bank statements were allegedly altered to mask the diversion.
CBI also busted a SIM-box-based phishing network under Operation Chakra-V, arresting three accused.

More than ₹2 crore has been siphoned off from India’s Permanent Mission in Geneva, allegedly by a former accounts officer who diverted government funds to his personal bank account to finance crypto and online gambling, officials familiar with the case said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against Mohit, who was posted to the Mission in December 2024 as an assistant section officer.

Role at the Mission

Mohit joined the Permanent Mission on December 17, 2024. He was later assigned the task of physically submitting payment documents to the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), where the Mission maintains accounts in US dollars and Swiss francs.

The discrepancy was found in the Swiss franc account.

As part of routine operations, the Mission makes payments to Swiss vendors based on invoices that carry pre-printed QR codes. These QR codes contain the vendor’s bank details.
Along with the QR codes, payment instruction slips signed by the Attache (Administration and Establishment) and the Drawing and Disbursing Officer are submitted to the bank.

It was common practice to attach multiple QR codes to a single payment instruction slip.

How the money was diverted

Mohit was responsible for physically carrying these QR codes and instruction slips to UBS. He also had viewing access to the Mission’s bank accounts along with the Head of Chancery.

Investigators believe he quietly replaced some of the original vendor QR codes with QR codes generated by him. As a result, payments meant for vendors were redirected to his personal Swiss franc account at UBS.

Using this method, he allegedly diverted more than CHF 200,000 ($252,000), roughly ₹2 crore, over several months this year.

Officials said the acknowledgement slips attached to the original QR codes were not altered, which helped the transactions go through without raising immediate suspicion.

Editing bank statements to avoid detection

To keep the diversion hidden, Mohit is alleged to have tampered with the monthly bank statements. His name was removed and replaced with the names of vendors before the statements were used for routine account reconciliation.

Because of this, the transactions went unnoticed for several months.

The matter surfaced only when auditors flagged duplicate payments made to a local firm, Ejey Travels. A closer check of the accounts then revealed how much money had been siphoned off.

When questioned, Mohit gave a written confession, admitting that he had siphoned off the funds to bankroll crypto-gambling activities, officials said.

Repatriation and partial recovery

Following the discovery, Mohit was immediately sent back to India along with his family.

He claimed to have paid CHF 12,830 ($16,166) to Ejey Travels for a deposit into the Mission’s account. Officials said this amount was found credited in the Mission’s records.

In addition, Mohit deposited CHF 9,825 ($12,380) and CHF 28,000 ($35,280) into the Mission’s account shortly before his repatriation.

Case registered

The CBI has booked Mohit for criminal breach of trust, forgery, falsification of accounts, and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The agency is continuing its investigation.

Not an isolated case

The Geneva Mission case is not the only one of its kind. Investigators say there have been several recent cases where government officials are accused of dipping into public funds to fund online trading, gambling, and crypto activities.

Earlier this year, the CBI arrested Rahul Vijay, a senior finance manager at the Airports Authority of India, in a case involving the alleged diversion of more than ₹232 crore into his personal online trading accounts.

In another case, a Bank of India officer, Hitesh Singla, was booked for allegedly diverting over ₹16 crore from 127 accounts, including dormant ones, and funneling the funds into online trading and crypto dealings.

CBI busts phishing network under Operation Chakra-V

In a separate operation, the CBI recently carried out raids in Delhi, Noida, and Chandigarh and uncovered what officials described as a well-organised phishing network using illegally procured SIM cards.

The action was taken under Operation Chakra-V, which focuses on dismantling cybercrime infrastructure.

SIM boxes and mass fraud

During the raids, the agency seized SIM boxes, servers, communication devices, USB hubs, dongles, unaccounted cash, digital evidence, and cryptocurrency.

Investigators said the gang used thousands of SIM cards to send bulk fraudulent messages offering fake loans and investment schemes. The messages were sent at scale, targeting people across the country.

Three people — Sonveer Singh, Maneesh Upreti, and Himalaya – have been arrested so far.

How the network operated

The probe began after the CBI found that a firm had procured more than 20,000 SIM cards in violation of telecom rules. These SIM cards were managed through an online platform that allowed mass messaging.

Officials said the setup was used not only by domestic fraudsters but also by overseas cybercriminals to target people in India.

The probe is still underway, and investigators expect more arrests as they go through the data and devices seized during the raids.