MUMBAI: In a sophisticated twist to the digital arrest scam, a 68-year-old woman from the western suburbs was duped of Rs 3.75 crore by fraudsters who staged a mock virtual court hearing featuring a man who claimed he was “Justice Chandrachud.“Moving beyond the usual khaki-clad impersonations, the scammers got the victim to write an “essay on her life.” While the masterminds remain at large, the West Cyber Police have arrested a 46-year-old man from Gujarat for receiving a major portion of the defrauded funds into his bank account.
Police said the actual callers often operate from outside the country where its tough for Indian law enforcement to reach them.
The woman’s ordeal began on August 18 when she received a call from the “Colaba Police station,” claiming her bank account was linked to a Rs 6 crore money laundering case.The complainant explained that she did not operate any such bank account. But the caller had already assigned her a “case number” and a letter with details about her case. To prove her innocence, she was subjected to a series of high-pressure tactics. She was forbidden from disclosing case details to anyone and threatened with physical arrest.The complainant submitted her bank details to the scammers, as instructed by them. She was put under “24 hour surveillance” even as her case was being assigned to the CBI.An “officer” SK Jaiswal took over and asked her to pen a two to three page long essay about her life to evaluate her character. Jaiswal said he was convinced of her innocence and assured her she would get bail soon. Her hearing was arranged before “Justice Chandrachud” soon after and she was warned to answer all his questions truthfully.The hearing started over video call and a man dressed in judicial robes appeared, posing as “Justice Chandrachud.” He asked her details about her money laundering case and “rejected her bail” when she pleaded non-guilty. She was asked to submit all her wealth for scrutiny and to redeem all her mutual funds as well.She transferred Rs 3.75 crore between August and October to the scammers who claimed the sum would be audited. But when she never got back any if her money , she approached the police.Under the supervision of joint commissioner Lakhmi Gautam, DCP Purushottam Karad and senior inspector Suvarna Shinde, a team comprising inspector Mangesh Majgar and sub inspector Poonam Jadhav apprehended one Jitendra Biyani, 46, from Surat. Biyani had received Rs 1.7 crore of the amount defrauded from the elderly woman.In a separate digital arrest scam, the West Cyber police arrested a man from Gujarat for duping a retired teacher of Rs 20 lakh. The teacher was told that she had been involved in suspicious activity and had been sent to digital custody for 90 days. She was asked to submit information about all her investments to “court” and was kept under hourly surveillance over phone.To obtain a clearance letter, the teacher was asked to deposit her money into a ”secret supervision account.” But despite paying Rs 20 lakh, she did not get the letter and eventually realized she had been conned.Police arrested Gaurav Balot, 25, from Gandhinagar for receiving Rs 5.3 lakh from the sum defrauded from the teacher. Police said Balot withdrew the money from an ATM and gave it to an accomplice. He was paid a commission of Rs 10000 for his role.
