Comments
SKS Microfinance has said that some of its employees have cheated the company to the tune of Rs 15.8 crore in the last financial year.
The services of employees involved have been terminated and the company has written off over Rs 14 crore.
The auditors of the company have reported that there was cash embezzlement by the employees to the tune of Rs 2.5 crore and loans given to non-existent borrowers was Rs 13.3 crore, , the micro lender said in its annual report.
“We have been informed that during the year there were instances of cash embezzlements by the employees of the company aggregating Rs 2,50,91,317; and loans given to non-existent borrowers on the basis of fictitious documentation created by the employees of the company aggregating Rs 13,33,13,975,” auditors S R Batliboi & Co said in the annual report.
“The services of all such employees involved have been terminated and the company is in the process of taking legal action. The outstanding balance (net of recovery) aggregating Rs 14,24,40,656 has been written off,” the auditors added.
SKS said that employee fraud is an inherent risk in the business the company operates in, since all the transactions are cash-based.
In case of cash embezzlements, the company has recovered an amount of Rs 1,08,59,714 including the insurance cover.
Cash embezzlement is 0.09 per cent of disbursement during the year, SKS clarified.
According to the annual report, total disbursements in the 2011-12 stood at Rs 2,736 crore.
To mitigate this risk to a large extent, the management has put in place several preventive control measures such as procuring indemnity bond from every field staff, with personal guarantee of a third person.
“Every bank transaction (deposit/ withdrawal) is to be executed by minimum of two staff comprising a bank signatory and a confirmed staff. The strongbox at every branch is controlled by two keys and the keys are held by two different employees in the branch,” SKS informed.
The company also said that surprise visits are conducted by managerial employees, at the time of carrying out cash/ bank transactions by field employees besides minimising the cash balances at various branches to the lowest level possible (50,000 + next day disbursement).
In case of cash embezzlements, SKS said it has taken fidelity insurance to minimise the losses from cash embezzlements.
In case of loans given to non-existent/ fictitious borrowers, SKS said it has recovered an amount of Rs 73,97,648 against these cases including insurance cover. These cases are 0.49 per cent of disbursement during the year.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.