The accused had kept the complainant and his wife under digital arrest from 25 to 27 September, after which they allowed them to use phones and other devices.
A 73-year-old city resident and former Managing Director (MD) of a multinational conglomerate, who is presently working as a mining industry advisor, was cheated to the tune of ₹70 lakhs last week. The RAK Marg police Monday registered a case based on the complaint filed by the 73-year-old resident of a luxury tower in Dadar East. The police said the accused approached the senior citizen posing as National Investigation Agency (NIA) chief Sadanand Date. They told him he was found linked to a terror group during the Pahalgam terror attack investigations and placed him under digital arrest.
According to the police, the episode started last week. “He (the complainant) started getting calls on Thursday, from an unknown woman, who identified herself as IPS officer Vineeta Sharma from Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Control, New Delhi. She told the senior citizen they were investigating a sensitive case related to the Pahalgam terror attack. They had already raided several businessmen, politicians, and builders in the case, and the complainant’s details have cropped up for helping the terrorist,” said a police officer from RAK Marg police station.
Sharma told the complainant that the case was getting transferred to the National Investigating Agency. “Then the complainant began getting calls from a man, who posed as an NIA officer and identified himself as IPS officer Premkumar Gautam. In a video call, he saw the fraudster sitting in a police uniform, talking about raids where they found documents related to the complainant used for money laundering and terror funding. He even showed the complaint an arrest warrant and asked him to co-operate with the investigators,” said the police officer.
On Friday, the 73-year-old received a call from a man posing as Sadanand Date, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) chief. “He told the complainant that a money laundering case is about to be registered against him and asked about all his investments. The complainant gave him a complete list of his fixed deposits, savings bank accounts, stock markets, and foreign bank accounts. He was told that all his funds need to be legalised; for this, he must send them the funds. After verification, they would return it,” said the police officer. The complainant then sent ₹70 lakh to the bank accounts given by the accused.
“They then told the complainant to send more money to avoid action under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The officer posing as Date even sent him an acknowledgement receipt for ₹70 lakh. However, due to repeated demands, the complainant felt something suspicious and approached the RAK Marg police station,” said the police officer.