BENGALURU: In a major cyber fraud case, a 74-year-old retired teacher was allegedly kept under “digital arrest” for nearly four months and cheated of Rs 24 crore. The State Cyber Command Unit arrested six accused from different states.
The massive fraud came to light because of the timely alertness of a private bank manager, which not only prevented the woman from losing more money but also exposed the large-scale cyber scam.
The accused are N Sivagnanam from Erode, Tamil Nadu; Akkach Mallick from Mumbai, Maharashtra; Palak Bhai Patel and Amit Narendra Patel from Ahmedabad, Gujarat; Om Prakash Rajput from New Delhi; and Gaurav Kumar from Bihar.
The victim, Lakshmi Ramamurthy, is a resident of Shivajinagar, lives alone in an apartment, while her children reside abroad. She had also worked as a teacher in Dubai.
The accused used the ‘digital arrest’ tactic by posing as senior officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED). They claimed that she was involved in an illegal money laundering case and kept her under constant fear and surveillance.
Fearing legal action, Lakshmi transferred Rs 24 crore to the fraudsters in phases between February 10 and March 24. The accused were still not satisfied and allegedly demanded more money.
To source additional funds, Lakshmi went to her bank to pledge 1.3 kg of gold ornaments kept at her house. Observing her behaviour and repeated high-value transactions, the branch manager grew suspicious and informed the police.
The police rushed to the bank and questioned Lakshmi. Initially, the frightened woman was unwilling to speak, but after the police reassured her and questioned her patiently, the truth about the “digital arrest” came to light, the police said.
The police registered a complaint based on her statement, informed her children and began the investigation. The probe revealed that Lakshmi had transferred the money 26 times into 23 mule bank accounts linked to 10 different banks across the country. The accused, while speaking to Lakshmi learnt that she had recently sold a plot and had a large amount of money, that led them to target her and extort more money.
Using money trail analysis, technical details, and other evidence, the police arrested six persons from different states.
The officer added that the police were able to freeze several mule accounts used for layering and laundering the money with the help of the NCRP portal. The police managed to freeze over Rs 4 crore and recovered Rs 1.46 crore from the accused.
