80-yr-old in Noida duped of ₹4.9L over removing name from money laundering probe
The complainant retired as a general manager of a government bank at least 20 years ago. He said he believed the fraudster who called him because the latter knew which bank he worked for
An 80-year-old Noida resident was duped out of ₹4.9 lakh under the guise of having his name removed from an alleged ₹450 crore money laundering case. On Sunday, a first information report was filed at Sector 24 police station, and police have begun investigating the case.
The complainant retired as a general manager of a government bank at least 20 years ago, according to Amit Kumar, station house officer at Sector 24 police station, and has since been living in Sector 34, Noida.
“On February 25, the complainant received a phone call from someone who introduced himself as a police inspector based in Mumbai who was investigating a money laundering case involving the bank where the complainant worked. The caller told the complainant that his name had come up in the investigation and that he should pay up if he wanted his name removed from the probe,” said Kumar.
The complainant, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he believed the caller because the latter knew which bank he worked for.
“The caller identified himself as Bhupendra Nagar, an inspector at Mumbai’s Dadar police station. He said a former government bank manager named Jai Kumar had been charged with money laundering and that my name appears in the ₹450 crore case. He also said the police had discovered a bank account in my name and that an arrest warrant had been issued in my name. He said I would be held in police custody for 90 days. I told him I didn’t know any Jai Kumar and didn’t have an account in Dadar,” the complainant said.
According to him, the caller then suggested he assist the complainant in obtaining anticipatory bail, after which he connected the complainant with another individual named Deepak Raj Singh.
“Singh gave me confidence and said he would get me all the bail clearances. Singh sent me his bar council licence and Aadhaar card via WhatsApp to provide me with surety. He informed me that I would have to pay ₹2.84 lakh in Mumbai and ₹2.1 lakh in Delhi to obtain all the necessary clearances. I made both payments on February 27,” the complainant said.
After receiving the money, the callers disconnected their phones and ended their contact with the complainant. Realising he had been duped, the man filed a complaint at the Sector 24 police station on March 18.
“We have filed a case under Section 66D of the IT Act. We are enlisting the assistance of the cyber team to investigate the money trail and determine which account the funds were transferred to,” said Kumar.