Hyderabad: Fraudsters posing as Mumbai Crime Branch police have extorted ₹59 lakh from a 76-year-old retired employee by threatening to arrest him in a money-laundering case.The complainant received a phone call on April 22 from an unknown number. The caller identified himself as Praveen Kumar, a Crime Branch officer from Mumbai. Praveen claimed that the victim’s Aadhaar details were misused in a ₹538 crore money-laundering case and a bank account was fraudulently opened in his name at Canara Bank’s Tilak Road branch in Mumbai.The victim was subsequently connected to another fraudster, who identified himself as Rajesh Mishra, chief investigation officer. Rajesh told the elderly victim that an FIR and arrest warrant were issued against him, and demanded ₹1 lakh as a govt deposit to close the case.The fraudsters repeatedly intimidated the victim, threatening property seizure, imprisonment and blocking of his son’s US visa from April 22. Under immense pressure from the accused, the victim even pledged gold at a private finance company and transferred ₹25.1 lakh to the bank account provided by the fraudsters on May 5. In all , he transferred ₹59 lakh to the bank accounts of the accused between April 22 and June 4.As they continued to ask for more money, the victim discussed the issue with his family members and realised the fraud. On his complaint, Cyberabad Cyber Crime officials booked a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the IT Act on Friday.
