Actor and entrepreneur of Nish hair, Parul Gulati has alleged that two employees at her Bengaluru retail store defrauded her business by diverting customer payments into their personal bank accounts, resulting in an estimated inventory loss of Rs 10 lakh, according to various media reports.
Sharing her experience in an Instagram video, Gulati described it as an internal fraud involving a store manager and a sales executive at her hair extension brand's Bengaluru outlet.
"I knew there was a discrepancy," Gulati said, adding that she became suspicious after noticing inconsistencies in the store's records. She said the alleged fraud came to light when she made an unannounced visit to the outlet.
According to Gulati, the sales executive did not report to work on the day of her visit, while the store manager admitted to the fraud during questioning.
"All he said was, 'I started after one month of joining the job,'" she recalled.
Missing stock exposed
Gulati alleged that the employees sold products worth between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 every day but asked customers to transfer payments directly to their personal bank accounts instead of the company's account.
"They sold my product, my packaging, through my name to the customer and then took the whole amount themselves," she said.
She added that the biggest warning sign came when the business discovered inventory worth around Rs 10 lakh was missing.
In the caption accompanying her video, Gulati claimed she has evidence covering only the last six months, which coincides with the store manager's tenure. She alleged that the manager admitted to misappropriating around Rs 8 lakh, while the second employee remains untraceable.
Customer payments diverted
Gulati said she is uncertain whether the money can be recovered and urged other employers not to hire the two individuals.
She also advised customers who had made payments to personal bank accounts instead of the company's official account to come forward, warning that they too may have been deceived.