NEW DELHI: The Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police has arrested two individuals, including a Chartered Accountant, for defrauding the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) of over Rs 3 crore under the SAMRIDH Scheme.
The police were informed about the incident through a complaint registered at the Economic Offences Wing.
The accused were identified as Prashant Agarwal (34) resident of SNN Rajlake View Apartments, BTM Layout, Bengaluru, Karnataka, and Sudhanshu Kumar Rakesh resident of Chandaura, Nalanda Bihar.
According to the police, the accused have been identified as Prashant Agarwal, director of M/s HPPL Foundation, and Sudhanshu Kumar Rakesh, a partner at M/s Tripurari & Associates.
The fraud came to light following a complaint by Ms. Rashi Sharma, an authorised representative of the MeitY Startup Hub (MSH), a division of Digital India Corporation.
The FIR, registered on April 24, 2025, stated that HPPL Foundation was selected as a startup accelerator under the SAMRIDH Scheme, which offers funding support of up to Rs 40 lakh per startup along with structured acceleration services.
MSH had released Rs 3.04 crore to HPPL Foundation to fund eight startups. However, investigations revealed that the foundation failed to disburse the sanctioned funds.
Instead, Prashant Agarwal misappropriated the amount for personal use and submitted fake Utilisation Certificates, falsely certified using the name and seal of Chartered Accountant Sudhanshu Kumar Rakesh.
Further inquiry found that Agarwal also collected around Rs 11 lakh from startups by falsely promising to facilitate government funding.
The fraud was sustained using fabricated documents and misleading financial reports.
Digital evidence recovered from Agarwal’s Bengaluru residence included fake certificates and email communications indicating fraudulent intent.
Agarwal was arrested on April 30 and led police to his associate Rakesh, held on May 7 in Patna. Searches revealed forged certificate templates. Agarwal, a Canada-trained postgraduate, founded HPPL Foundation in 2022. Both accused caused major losses to MSH; probe continues.