of-court settlement of its kind in the Kingdom, a sponsor here has waived a whopping SR247,000 to get an Indian woman accountant released from police custody. The woman accountant, Shareena Ponnamkadavan, was being held by police for an alleged financial misappropriation of SR507,894 from Sun City Polyclinic in the capital. As part of the amicable settlement between the two parties, Ponnamkadavan paid half of the allegedly embezzled amount to the sponsor, sources said adding that the money was repatriated from India. Saudi Gazette first published the report on Jan. 2 this year. The settlement took place last month after the Indian accountant spent over a month in police custody. “You are well aware of the misappropriation of funds from Sun City Polyclinic by Shareena Ponnamkadavan and her subsequent imprisonment. It is hereby brought to your notice that the case has been amicably settled between the plaintiff (sponsor) and the defendant through mediators,” said Dr. Saeed Ahmed Abdullah Al-Zahrani, Sun City managing director, in a signed press statement handed over to media persons at a recent press conference here. The settlement is unusual from several angles: It involves generosity shown by the sponsor – a gesture rarely reported in the media – and repatriation of SR250,000, an equivalent of three million rupees from India by an expatriate worker. Ponnamkadavan refused to speak toSaudi Gazette claiming that the case was “sub judice”. The dispute between the polyclinic management started when Ponnamkadavan was forced to work as a receptionist, bill collector, purchasing clerk and a storekeeper in addition to her duties as an accountant. Protesting the increased workload, Ponnamkadavan submitted her resignation on Nov. 11 and after that things went against her. The management then leveled charges that included financial irregularities to the tune of SR500,000. Ponnamkadavan insisted upon free and fair auditing, but the polyclinic showed no interest and handed her over to the police. “I tried to prove to the authorities that the charges leveled against me were false and was ready to face an auditor to prove my innocence,” Ponnamkadavan had said earlier. Others watching the case closely doubt Ponnamkadavan's claims and ask how she could manage to repatriate such a large amount of money from her hometown to pay her sponsor in such a short period of time. According to one mediator, Ponnamkadavan repatriated SR250,000 through hawala (non-banking channels) and handed the money over to the sponsor in the presence of witnesses. Ponnamkadavan, as ever before, is desperate to go home to India.
