Delhi businessman duped of Rs 30 lakh in fake 'excavated gold' scam

New Delhi: A 59-year-old man was arrested for allegedly swindling a local businessman of Rs 30 lakh by peddling fake "excavated gold," spinning a tale so convincing that even a gold purity test initially backed the scam, an officer said on Monday.

The man was identified as Mohan Rai, a resident of Uttam Nagar, while his two accomplices are still at large. Police have recovered Rs 1.70 lakh from his possession, the officer said.

On November 20 last year, Gaurav Soni, a businessman from Paschim Vihar, was introduced by one Ramesh Sharma, a hardware shop owner, to a woman referred to as "mother" and two men claiming to be father and son. The three told Soni they had for sale gold which was excavated in a digging at their home in Mathura.

"Initially, the fraudsters provided two golden pearls, which tested to be 78 per cent pure gold. Gaining the victims' trust, they later presented a necklace set weighing around 2 kg and struck a deal for Rs 80 lakh," Additional DCP (Southwest) Akanksha Yadav in a statement said.

Believing it to be genuine, Soni arranged Rs 30 lakh, with the remaining payment contingent on further verification.

He received the gold but when he put it to scrutiny he found it to be fake. When he tried to contact the three, he found their phones switched off.

On December 25, an FIR was registered at Palam Village Police Station and an investigation was taken up.

Police analysed more than 100 mobile numbers and IMEI records, and eventually nabbed Mohan Rai on March 3.

During interrogation, Rai confessed to orchestrating the scam with Babu Lal and Lakshmi, who supplied the fake gold. He said he received Rs 9.5 lakh from the fraud proceeds.