Octogenarian duped of Rs 6 crore by juvenile, accused held
New Delhi: Cracking a unique case of fraud, the Delhi Police’s Economic Offence Wing has apprehended a juvenile for duping an octogenarian of Rs 6 crore, police said on Wednesday.
The juvenile, part of a gang of cheats, posed as major and opened a bank account RBL Bank in the name of M/s FUTURE INDIA with a fake name. This bank account was utilised for getting money transferred from gullible victims, including the 86-year-old complainant, who were made to believe that they were receiving phone calls from insurance company officials. The money, so credited, was withdrawn from ATMs, leaving no money trail to follow.
The matter came to light when a woman approached EOW to report the fraud.
She said that her father was maintaining five bank accounts where her siblings were joint account holders, and around Rs 4-5 crore were lying in these. The bank accounts were operated by her father only since all her siblings are residing in foreign countries.
The complainant noticed that a huge amount had been transferred to the accounts of the unknown persons. On enquiry, her father said that certain individuals, who claim to be officials of insurance company, are helping him to retrieve his money from the companies.
“The money was transferred at the instance of said insurance company officials. From the said five accounts, Rs 85 lakh were transferred to insurance companies and Rs 5.16 crore transferred to other bank accounts, which were also part of the syndicate. Due to old age, her father lost his logic and reasoning and did not realise that he had been victimised,” Joint Commissioner of Police, EOW, O.P. Mishra said.
A case under relevant sections was registered in August 2019. During investigation, eight members of the gang were arrested and a charge sheet has already been filed against them.
The detailed investigation revealed that Rs 2,35,000 was transferred on February 5, 2019 to the bank account of M/s FUTURE INDIA having office at A-66, Sector-65, Noida, UP. As per the bank records, the juvenile was proprietor of firm under a fake name.
On verification of KYC documents submitted to the banks, it was discovered that all were fake and forged. The only clue for identifying the juvenile was his photo affixed on the Account Opening Form, and on the basis of this, the EOW established his correct identity, traced his residence and apprehended him.
During investigation, gang members were found to be running call centres which did promotional calls for insurance companies. In this manner, the criminals got access to the data of the complainant. The juvenile’s bank account was utilised for getting the money transferred from the victims.