Fake CBI officer, SC warrant: How Vardhman Group chairman lost Rs 7cr to online fraudsters | India News

LUDHIANA: Cyber ​​cheats industrialist from Assam and Bengal and Padma Bhushan winner SP Oswalchairman of the $1.1 billion Vardhman Group, of Rs 7 crore by allegedly posing as members of a CBI team investigating misuse of his Aadhaar for passport and financial fraud, Ludhiana Police said on Sunday after arresting two suspects from Guwahati the previous day and recovering Rs 5.2 crore from them. Investigators said this was the highest amount seized in a cybercrime case in the country, based on data available with MHA’s Indian Cyber ​​Crime Coordination Centre. Ludhiana Police Commissioner Kuldeep Singh Chahal said this Vardhman Group filed a complaint after Oswal realized he had been tricked into transferring money to two accounts. No one from the company could be reached for comment until late Sunday.
Atnu Chaudhary and Anand Kumar Chaudhary, the arrested men, were part of a nine-member gang that allegedly convinced Oswal that the CBI had registered a case against him after he discovered that his Aadhaar had been used to send a package to Malaysia send containing 58 false passports and 16 forged passports. debit cards.
The web of deceit started when a person claiming to be a CBI officer from Mumbai called the industrialist, the police commissioner said. The imposter then made a video call, dressed in a police uniform and sitting in an office with the CBI logo in the background. He sent a fake ‘arrest warrant’ to Oswal via WhatsApp, claiming it was authorized by SC.
The caller got Oswal to transfer Rs 7 crore to two bank accounts for bail proceedings and claimed that he had been placed under “digital arrest”. After Oswal’s team filed the complaint, investigators immediately started a process to get the bank accounts frozen, police said.
Inspector Jatinder Singh, SHO of Ludhiana cybercrime police station, said the gang member asked Oswal to transfer Rs 4 crore to one account and deposit Rs 3 crore into a second bank account in three transactions.
By the time the accounts were frozen, the suspects had withdrawn Rs 1.7 crore. “We have already returned the seized Rs 5.2 crore to the complainant,” Singh said.