Thane police bust 'digital arrest' fraud with overseas links; 3 held for duping woman of Rs 3 cr

Thane: Police have arrested three persons, allegedly linked to an international fraud syndicate, for cheating an elderly woman in Maharashtra's Thane city of more than Rs 3 crore after keeping her under "digital arrest", officials said on Sunday.

The 61-year-old woman received a call on August 13, 2024 from some persons posing as a courier company personnel, claiming they had seized her parcel containing a laptop, 140 grams of MD (drug) powder, a Thai passport, three credit cards and four kg of cloth items, they said.

Soon after, an individual impersonating as a "CBI officer" called the victim from a different number in a bid to verify her identity. The fraudster displayed some fabricated documents and coerced her into transferring funds after keeping her under "digital arrest", as per the police.

The woman later transferred Rs 3.04 crore into two different accounts at separate nationalised banks, the police said in a release.

"The audacity of the accused is evident in how they exploited the victim's trust by masquerading as high-ranking officials," Deputy Commissioner of Police Parag Manere said.

A First Information Report (FIR) was registered on September 13 last year under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 318(4) (cheating), 316(5) (criminal breach of trust), 336(3) (forgery) and 340(2) (using a forged document or electronic record as genuine), as well as relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act.

An extensive probe by the Thane cyber police uncovered links to an international syndicate as the fraudsters managed to transfer Rs 82.46 lakh overseas, with the funds allegedly converted into US dollars (VDA- virtual digital asset), the police said.

The investigation led to the arrest of three persons on June 19. They have been identified as Kishore Bansilal Jain (63), chairman of the Sri Satkar Pathpedi (co-op credit society) in Mumbai, Mahesh Pawan Kothari (36), associated with the garment and imitation jewellery business, and Dhaval Santosh Bhalerao (26), involved in cosmetics business, the release said.

"The accused had meticulously crafted their story (for the victim) to induce panic and confusion. The cross-border nature of the transaction underscores the complexity and reach of the modern financial fraud," Manere said.