Hospital staffer held for misappropriation of funds in Chennai

The Central Crime Branch of Avadi City Police arrested a 24-year-old staff member of a private hospital for allegedly misappropriating ₹52 lakh from the institution located in Anna Nagar West Extension. 

The woman was arrested by the police following a complaint filed by Dr. Mythili last September. She and her husband Dr. Balaji have been running Aashara Hospitals in Anna Nagar West Extension for the last nine years.

The complainant said that M. Sowmya, who hails from Tiruvarur district, joined the hospital as a staffer in the billing and cash section in 2021. Quickly gaining the confidence of her employers, Sowmya was entrusted with handling accounts and cash on her own. 

When a patient recently reported to Dr. Mythili that Sowmya was insisting on cash payment instead of online payment, she went through the bills only to find that she had been swindling money, the complaint stated.

From February 2022, she received cash from patients or received money directly to her accounts through a QR code, by convincing patients that the hospital’s QR code was not working. She also falsified accounts, and swindled over ₹52 lakh from February 2022, the investigation revealed. 

The police arrested the suspect and remanded her in judicial custody.

Published - November 06, 2024 02:04 pm IST