Ex-employee, firm head booked for data theft

The cybercrime cell here has registered an FIR against Divyanshu Jain, Director of Divrit Consultancy Pvt Ltd, and Aaina Gupta, a former compliance assistant at a Chandigarh-based chartered accountancy firm, for allegedly conspiring to steal sensitive data of over 2,000 clients and misusing it to harm the business interests of their former employer.

In the FIR filed by Nipun Bansal, a partner at M/s Parshotam and Associates Charted Accountant, the duo has been accused of orchestrating a month-long scheme that involved email impersonation, theft of digital signatures and unauthorised access to confidential firm data.

According to the complaint, Gupta joined the complainant’s firm in Ludhiana as a compliance assistant and was later promoted to compliance manager. However, over time, her conduct reportedly changed and she was frequently observed speaking to unknown persons about firm matters. Despite repeated warnings, her behaviour persisted, raising suspicions.

In June 2024, Gupta resigned under the pretext of pursuing further studies and was asked to return company assets. She allegedly failed to return several critical documents and later joined Divrit Consultancy, where, according to the FIR, she and Jain began misusing the firm’s sensitive data.

The FIR states that an email ID resembling the complainant firm’s official ID was created, Aainaparshotam10@gmail.com, and was used to correspond with existing clients under false pretenses.

Chandigarh