[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Ex-Employee Cheats Customers Of Ducati Bikes, Pockets ₹5 Crore

Source- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/.../104902358.cms

Three weeks after resigning from the post of operations head of VST Ducati bike showroom, a 38-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly pocketing Rs 5 crore that customers had paid to purchase vehicles.

The fraud came to light when the customers who brought bikes from the showroom could not register them with the RTO.

Rakesh from Kukatpally at Ranga Reddy district in Andhra Pradesh was arrested after CN Mahesh, general manager of the company, filed a complaint. Rakesh siphoned off Rs 5.2 crore by selling around 21 bikes between July 2019 and September this year. Rakesh, who worked with the company for five years, resigned on October 20.

During an audit, it was found that the sale of nine Ducati Panigale, three Multistrada, four Diavel, two Monster, a Desertx, a Scrambler and a Streetfighter bikes, each costing anywhere between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 40 lakh, were not shown in the records.

Mahesh alleged that Rakesh had collected Rs 5.2 crore from 21 buyers and deposited it in multiple bank accounts including the one in the name of ‘Office Facility Suppliers’.

A police officer said Rakesh collected money from the buyers, deposited a part of it in the company’s account and diverted the rest. “Though the complainant has named only Rakesh, the company should have followed certain procedures for receiving bikes and sales, and there should be a trail of delivery notes, invoice details sent to the RTO, and audits. The complaint was filed only after customers started visiting the company to complain that they were not able to register their motorbikes. We suspect the involvement of insiders. We're verifying the authenticity of the invoices,” he added.

[SnS_12]

Hope Ducati India steps in quickly and resolves the issue for the customers just like Kawasaki India had done back in 2016 for the customers who booked their bikes with the infamous Navi Mumbai Kawasaki dealer.

The trauma for owners of such high end bikes would be difficult to erase from their memories but at least if the issue is resolved at the earliest it would provide them with some respite.

Hoping for the best 🤞

[anshumandun]

How is this even possible? He collects the money, deposits in his own account and delivers Ducati bikes to customers and this goes on for 2 years before customers realize that they cannot register the bikes at RTO? And the dealership doesn't realize for 2 years that money is not coming but bikes are getting sold!

Doesn't make sense at all. How broken the system has to be for something so dumb to happen.

[RMN]

Originally Posted by anshumandun

How is this even possible? He collects the money, deposits in his own account and delivers Ducati bikes to customers and this goes on for 2 years before customers realize that they cannot register the bikes at RTO? And the dealership doesn't realize for 2 years that money is not coming but bikes are getting sold!

Doesn't make sense at all. How broken the system has to be for something so dumb to happen.

I agree, something...In fact many things don't add up. Especially considering the relatively small number of sales they actually have.

[2nd_gear_7krpm]

Someone who has practiced audit as a profession for long enough, I must confess a local supermarket would have more control over the inventory and sales of milk packets and coriander leaves, than Ducati India! How man how?? Instances of embezzlement in a fast moving commuter segment is somewhat understandable (ofcourse not at this scale). But for a showroom which only sells motorcycle in double digit numbers (that too if they're lucky), this magnitude of fraud is possible only if several hands were involved.

[neerajku]

Don't they have auditors? Dont they pay salaries and expenses ? Dont they have ledgers? And why has payment got to with registration m until and unless they have not been even invoiced? They are not Maruti selling hundreds by the hour, they would be selling a few every month. No one takes stock of stuff every month?
Either poor reporting or involved leadership!

[Rajeevraj]

Main question: Why would any customer buying such expensive bikes transfer money to any random account. Anyone will cross check if it is the company account itself.


My Alternate Theories

• Maybe these customers are some new age 'cash rich' buyers who wanted to buy with 'cash' and this guy said he will facilitate it and they gave it to him. Or maybe promised some major discounts.
  
  
• The guy actually scammed only everything above the ex-showroom price( or some part of it). Which means he did deposit what the company was due in the company account- So no flags were raised and vehicles were delivered, everything above it- Road Tax, insurance, other registration charges he never did/forged. I don't see any way this can escape a company's notice otherwise- especially for such a long time.

Times of India may have just done a back of the envelope calculation on the value of 21 Ducati bikes, got a nice big number and threw it out. May be much less actually.

[GTO]

Are we talking about a 10-rupee pen that an employee can put in his pocket & steal from a stationery shop? These are motorcycles...and super premium ones at that!

Does this showroom have any kind of checks & balances? Tiny businessmen like me tally their bank statements, inventory etc. every month. And this is Ducati?

Wondering why such frauds always happen within the VW Group only. DieselGate emissions scam, their entire ordeal with Precision Motors (legal notices, dealership cancellations), unrefunded deposits for Porsches & Ducatis earlier, Skoda after-sales dealer scams (starting with Harish Kanchan in 2005)...this is perhaps the 100th thread on Team-BHP about a scam within a VW Automotive Group company.

Heck, before VW sold its first car in India, a representative of theirs had scammed the Andhra Pradesh government. VW as a group and all its dealers / representatives need better lawyers, accountants or both.

Out of curiosity, what were the customers thinking before transferring monies to an account named "Office Facility Suppliers"? From what angle does that sound like a Ducati bank dealership account?

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by GTO

Does this showroom have any kind of checks & balances? Tiny businessmen like me tally their bank statements, inventory etc. every month. And this is Ducati?

It is not Ducati- this is the VST Group - dealers of Ford, Kia, VW, BYD, Mahindra in Bangalore and Chennai.

With their extensive dealership experience (this is 75+ year old group), one would expect better

[Theyota]

I think it's a badly written article. The real story has to be way more complicated. As indicated above VST group is not just some run of the mill small town local real estate/politco turned automotive dealer. VST group is the same group that also operates VST Tillers and Tractors which as far as I know is the largest manufacturer of small tractors/tillers in India.

[AtheK]

There is no way this can happen without VST management involved and knowing about it, seems like a much bigger conspiracy which is being pushed under the carpet and one person being made the scapegoat.

The reporter also seems to be a novoice who just wanted to publish something without bothering to check facts or maybe was instructed to do so. Did VST do an audit after only 2019, seems highly improbable.

Hopefully truth comes out and not one person is made to suffer for which many were party.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by ajmat

It is not Ducati- this is the VST Group - dealers of Ford, Kia, VW, BYD, Mahindra in Bangalore and Chennai.

Yes, yes. But the thing is, Ducati India is no Hero or Honda. They (as a company) are on top of each booking & each order. The numbers are minuscule. Hence, it is hard to believe that the fraud has been going on since 4 years (2019) and the company had no wind of it.

Today, even if the tail-light bulb goes kaput, customers start screaming on social media + emailing customer support. I find it hard to believe that Ducati India had no clue of this scam happening in Bangalore since 4 years.

End of the day, they are 100% responsible for their dealership.

[Red Liner]

But how did the customers ride their bikes around for 4 odd years without road taxes paid and no registration plates? How was the insurance purchased and renewed?

None of this makes sense from any angle!

[SN88]

Originally Posted by GTO

Are we talking about a 10-rupee pen that an employee can put in his pocket & steal from a stationery shop? These are motorcycles...and super premium ones at that!

Does this showroom have any kind of checks & balances? Tiny businessmen like me tally their bank statements, inventory etc. every month. And this is Ducati?

First off - doesnt the management have eyes? Bikes going out but money not coming in

[androdev]

I feel these are some shady cash transactions which did not go as planned. Most high value legit purchases are RTGS based these days - no scope for diverting funds and zero chance of customer keeping quiet if all receipts are not provided immediately.