A septuagenarian in Delhi was duped of more than Rs 20 crore over a period of one month, after he fell victim to a digital arrest scam.
Naresh Malhotra, a 78-year-old retired banker from South Delhi’s Gulmohar Park, lost Rs 23 crore over a month.
It began in August this year, when Malhotra received a call from a woman claiming to be a senior officer from a telecom company, alleging that his mobile number had been used for fraudulent and illegal activities.
He was soon contacted by others posing as officials from the Mumbai Police, Enforcement Directorate (ED), and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), who threatened him with serious legal action and accused him of links to terrorist groups.
The callers ordered him to remain under surveillance without leaving his home, forced him to attend video calls every two hours. They also made him sign an undertaking to keep the matter secret.
To gain his trust, they sent him a fake bail order and threatened him with passport seizure, restrictions on international travel, and harm to his family.
Between August 4 and September 4, the fraudsters withdrew Rs 23 crore from Malhotra’s three bank accounts through 20 transactions, also obtaining his bank details and investment information.
As he suffered huge financial losses, Malhotra approached the police, and a First Information Report (FIR) in the case was registered by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) Unit of the Delhi Police on September 19.
Subsequently, funds worth approximately Rs 2.3 crore that were transferred from his bank accounts were frozen, and an investigation was underway.
In a separate case from Mumbai, four persons, including two doctors, were booked for allegedly duping a physician to the tune of Rs 70 lakh by promising his daughter admission in the MBBS course at a Mumbai municipal medical college and hospital under the management quota.
According to an official of the Sion police station, where an FIR was lodged, the accused were identified as doctors Rakesh Ramnarayan Verma, Dr Akhileshkumar Rammoorthy Pal, both working at Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital in Sion, and two others, Luv Avadhkishore Gupta and Kush Gupta.
The cheating case came to light when the complainant approached the LTM Medical College dean, who confirmed no such admission had taken place, and the admission letter was bogus.
Upon realising the fraud, the complainant demanded his money back, but the accused ignored his repeated requests.
Finally, he complained to the Sion police, leading to the registration of an FIR.
