An organised cyber fraud gang that allegedly cheated an Indore businessman of more than ₹1.5 crore by promising a ₹15 crore business loan has come under investigation. Police say the case surfaced while probing an earlier ₹1 crore fraud, in which the same gang allegedly lured another businessman with the promise of a ₹10 crore business loan.
Investigators said the fraudsters won the businessman’s trust by showing crores of rupees in cash during a video call, using the same method as in the previous case. During the probe, the alleged involvement of a South film actor and an actress in the racket has also come to light, and agencies are investigating the matter.
Understand the cyber fraud tactic
Advocate Rohit Jain, representing the victim businessman, stated that this gang targets big businessmen. Those who face difficulty in getting large loans from banks are lured with promises of easy procedures and instant loans.
In the previous case too, the businessman was promised a loan of 10 crore rupees. Now, the second businessman was told that he would be provided with finance worth 15 crore rupees. For this, money was extorted one after another in the name of processing fees, advance interest, NOC, registration, and other formalities.
First 10 crore, now the lure of a 15 crore loan
This time too, the fraudsters showed the businessman several cartons of cash via video call. He was assured that all cartons contained 15 crore rupees in cash and if he made some more payment, the entire amount would be handed over immediately.
In a previously reported case, the accused had also explained the weight of bundles of notes, claiming them to be 10 crore rupees in cash. This time too, an attempt was made to gain the businessman’s trust in the same manner.
Mobile data and documents also used
The gang would take possession of the businessman’s mobile for some time and scan the documents, emails, and other data present in it. The businessman alleges that later, documents were also prepared in his name that he had never signed.
Fraud of Over 1.5 Crore
According to Advocate Rohit Jain, in the new case, the businessman was made to deposit more than one and a half crore rupees by citing different reasons. When the loan was not disbursed even after repeated assurances, the businessman realised he had been cheated, but to avoid becoming a laughing stock, he did not complain to the police and cyber cell.
Gathered courage after reading ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ news
Recently, ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ published the news “₹1 crore cheated by luring with a ₹10 crore loan: Businessman got money back on court order; ?10 crore shown on video call” on its digital platform.
The special thing is that when another businessman read this news, he understood that everything similar had happened to him too. After this, he gathered courage and told the whole matter to his advocate. Then a complaint was filed in the matter.
Role of South Indian actor and actress also under investigation
The most sensational aspect of the entire case is that during the investigation, the involvement of an actor and an actress from the South film industry also came to light. It is being said that through these two, attempts were made to strengthen the trust of businessmen and to make the network appear credible. Currently, the investigation in this regard is ongoing.
In the previous case, significant relief was received from the court
In a similar pattern of fraud involving a loan of 10 crore rupees, the District Court recently issued an important order, directing the Cyber Cell to return 1 crore rupees, which had been frozen, to the victim businessman.
Following the court’s order, the bank deposited the entire amount into the businessman’s account before the stipulated time. This was the first case of such a large sum being returned in cyber fraud cases.
Investigating agencies’ eyes on organised network
In both cases, the method of fraud, the pattern of people playing roles, and the loan processing procedure are largely similar. This raises suspicion that it is an organised interstate network, targeting large businessmen and defrauding them of crores of rupees.
Now, investigative agencies are probing the entire network and the roles of all individuals associated with it. It has also been revealed that the gang members transferred the 1.5 crore rupees deposited by the businessman into more than two hundred accounts.
In this case, the victim businessman filed a complaint with the police and the Crime Branch (Cyber Cell) on July 27, after which the investigation is ongoing.
