Prisoner booked for ‘money order fraud’ of ?26.69 lakh at Yerawada jail

A prisoner serving a life sentence at Yerawada jail in Pune has been booked for a money order fraud amounting to a staggering ?26.69 lakh.

The accused prisoner is alleged to have engaged in tampering with the ‘prisoners money order register’ within the prison, since 2021.

The accused has been identified as Sachin Raghunath Phulsundar, who is lodged in Yerawada jail in rape and attempt to murder case registered at Narayangaon police station.

As per the police complaint filed by Bapurao Bhimrao Mote, working as a prison officer in Yerawada Central Jail, accused Phulsundar was helping prison staff to maintain ‘money order’ records of the prisoners.

At that time, the accused allegedly made forged entries of money received by the name of various prisoners including himself in the money order register, creating a fraudulent financial trail.

Police said that to send various produced materials outside of the jail the accused used to get access to the concerned department. After gaming the confidence of the officers, he managed to make fraudulent entries in the ‘2A Register’ by using fake signatures and dates.

Ashok Kate, police sub-inspector at Yerawada police station, said, “When there were discrepancies in money order entries and actual cash, then during accounting it was found that someone made fraudulent entries in register with duplicate sign and dates.’’

Kate said, “During further investigation, it was found that the accused was involved in this and he duped the department by marking fake money orders by names of at least 300-400 prisoners including himself.

According to Kate, relatives can send money orders to their respective prisoners so that prisoners can use this money for their daily use in prison. In this case, the accused made fake entries of money orders worth ?26,69,911.

The Pune Police have launched a comprehensive probe into the matter, which includes questioning the accused prisoner, identifying his accomplices inside the jail, and tracing the fraudulent transactions.

They are also working closely with prison officials to strengthen security measures and prevent similar incidents in the future.

A case has been registered at Yerawada police station under sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471,477 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).