Ex-employee extorts Rs 1.97 cr from managing director of ship management company in Mumbai; booked

Mumbai: A former engineer of a ship management company here allegedly extorted Rs 1.97 crore from the managing director of the firm by threatening to send a video of one of his vessels discharging untreated sewage in the territory of the United States to the country's Coast Guard, police said on Tuesday.

Based on a complaint lodged by the firm's managing director, a first information report (FIR) under section 384 (extortion) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the alleged accused, an official said.

The ship management company has an office at Churchgate in south Mumbai and offices in Delhi and Singapore, he said.

The complainant has alleged that he received a call from an unidentified number in June 2022, in which the caller had threatened to send a video to the US Coast Guard of a vessel discharging untreated sewage in the sea while heading towards the US from Mexico, the official said.

The caller, who identified himself as a resident of Jharkhand, claimed that the ship had violated international laws by releasing untreated sewage and demanded $2.5 lakh (Rs 1.97 crore) from the complainant to keep the video under wraps, he said.

It was later established that the caller had worked as an engineer with the firm, the official said.

The complainant, out of fear, transferred the money from the bank account of the company's Singapore office to the accused's account in Jharkhand, he said.

A few days later, he again received a call from the accused, who demanded $3 lakh this time. Following this, the managing director approached the police with a complaint, the official said.