Conmen promise 3-time black money in return for white cash

Dupe three persons who gave them Rs 9 lakh in all

People are falling prey to a new scheme of fraudulent investment. Police have arrested four men who had duped at least three persons by promising them three-fold returns on their money in just a few hours.

Their trick? They would claim they had a stash of black money, which they were eager to convert into white. They were ready to offer as much as three-fold returns if anyone gave them white money. As soon as someone fell for their trick, they would pocket the money and vanish, leaving no trail behind.

Police in Chikkajala on the outskirts of Bengaluru have managed to arrest four such suspected fraudsters. Shanmuga, 51, from Bhadravathi, Omprakash, 55, from Amruthalli, Mohan, 50, from Nagarabhavi, and Chandrappa, 50, from R T Nagar, duped businessmen and realtors by this trick, police said.

The suspects would pick their targets carefully. They would claim they have plenty of black money which they want to convert into white. They would tell their victims that if they give them white money, they would get a whopping three-fold returns, that too in just a few hours. After convincing their victims, they would pocket their money and promise to make the payment soon. They would then just vanish, police explained.
Shanmuga, who had gone to Bangarpet recently, happened to meet Rizwan, who works in an Ayurvedic medical store there, and became friends with him. He told Rizwan he had an idea which could make him rich overnight. When a curious Rizwan asked him how, Shanmuga told him about the scheme. Rizwan was so naïve he believed the story and borrowed Rs 1.30 lakh from various sources. Shanmuga promised to give him Rs 3.90 lakh in return.

Rizwan met Shanmuga as per his request at Vidyanagar cross in Chikkajala and gave him Rs 1.30 lakh. At that time, Shanmuga was accompanied by Chandrappa and Omprakash, whom he introduced as his friends. Shanmuga promised to return with Rs 3.90 lakh in a couple of hours and asked Rizwan to wait for him at Vidyanagar Cross. Then the trio was gone.

Long wait
Rizwan waited for them, but when they didn’t return even after long, he called Shanmuga on his mobile phone. But it was switched off. Realising that he had been duped, Rizwan quickly went to the Chikkajala police station and made a complaint.

Police sub-inspector Naveen swung into action and obtained the call detail record of Shanmuga’s mobile phone. It emerged that the trio was moving in and around Chikkajala. A police party spotted them at a dhaba at Bagalur and quickly apprehended them.

During the interrogation, the suspects told the police they had duped at least two more persons in a similar fashion. They had pocketed Rs 3.50 lakh from a person in Amruthahalli and Rs 4.20 lakh from another man in Yeshwantpur. In all, police recovered Rs nine lakh in cash and four mobile phones from the suspects.