In a meticulously executed investigation, Santacruz Police have arrested a 31-year-old operations manager of a four-star restaurant chain who had allegedly defrauded his employer of Rs 1.23 crore before going absconding for several months. The accused, identified as Dhinath Sudhakar Shetty, a resident of Mira Road, was finally tracked down to Mangaluru, Karnataka, after investigators traced a traffic e-challan issued to a car he had purchased on loan.
According to the police sources, the 53-year-old complainant is director of a restaurant chain who filed complaint against the accused on September 9, 2024, at Santacruz police station.
The complainant in his statement stated to the police that Dhinath Shetty, joined the restaurant chain in 2017 as a cashier at the Borivali branch, had gradually risen to the post of Operations Manager overseeing five major outlets Santacruz, Borivali, Lower Parel, Mulund, and Mira Road. He was responsible for handling daily cash collections, bank deposits, rent payments, and vendor transactions for the branches under his supervision.
Over time, Shetty gained the trust of the management due to his efficiency and accuracy in financial operations and siphoned off around R1.23 crore in this period. However, discrepancies began surfacing in early 2024 when several branches faced salary payment delays and cash shortfalls. Internal audits later revealed that Shetty had allegedly siphoned off funds collected from multiple outlets.
Upon questioning, Shetty initially claimed that payments had been made toward rent, vendor dues, and advance taxes. But when pressed for documentation, he reportedly evaded queries, gave vague replies, and eventually stopped attending meetings or answering calls.
Audit reports revealed that Shetty had misappropriated a total of more than R1.23 crore, meant for branch rents, vendor payments, and employee salaries.
