Dubai trip to ‘verify safety of money' in vain, bizman loses 5.2 cr to scammers
The victim, a 62-year-old suburban businessman, gradually figured out that something wasn't right, but it was too late. He had already lost Rs 5.24 crore to the scammers.
Police investigations have revealed that some of the accused were previously involved in duping over 30 people from Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Kerala and Chennai in different frauds running up to Rs 65 crore. The accused, R Menon, 35, Manikandan, 32, H Pandi, 38, and a fourth individual were arrested from Chennai by west region cyber police.
The elderly businessman was scammed by these men over nine months. One of the accused approached him in Oct 2024, claiming to be employed with a Dubai-based investment firm that offered great returns on investments. He connected the complainant over the phone with Menon, the "firm's director." Menon told the complainant that he would receive 10% returns per month and, additionally, shares of the same value as his investment would be transferred to his demat account.
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The complainant decided to invest Rs 10 lakh in Nov 2024. But instead of the firm's bank account number, he was provided with the personal account number of Manikandan (another accused) for making payment. When he pointed out the issue, he was told Manikandan was the firm's employee and would eventually transfer all the investors' money into the firm's bank account in bulk.
In Dec 2024, the scammers told the complainant that his investment earned a profit.
He could withdraw about Rs 90,000. This strengthened his faith in the firm. He received an email purportedly from "SEBI" about shares being transferred into his demat account. Till Feb, the complainant paid Rs 5.24 crore in total. In March, the scammers invited him to Dubai to assure him of the safety of his investments. But when he flew to Dubai, he discovered that the firm's office did not exist.
He then dialled Menon, who claimed he was in the US.
The complainant smelt a rat and demanded a full refund.
"The accused then sent him fake cheques, demand drafts, letters from the I-T department, and an email from a trading platform to con him into believing that his money was being refunded and shares were transferred in his name. But none of it actually happened," said a police officer. After a probe, police officers sourced some of these fake documents to Menon's phone. A team led by DCP Purushottam Karad and comprising senior inspector Suvarna Shinde and sub-inspector Vijay Ghorpade seized watches and other material from the accused.
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