Gurgaon: A 36-year-old man arrested for allegedly cheating an Italian jewellery designer of €900 (around Rs 98,000) by promising to marry her and claiming he needed money to create AI videos died at Bhondsi jail on Monday morning.Akhil Maurya’s condition deteriorated in the morning, following which jail authorities took him to Civil Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Sources said he suffered a cardiac arrest. Police have initiated an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death, and a postmortem will be conducted under a magistrate’s supervision to establish the cause.Maurya was arrested on Oct 1 by a team from Cyber Crime West police station and sent to judicial custody the following day.The alleged fraud came to light after the Italian woman travelled to Gurgaon on Sept 28 to lodge a complaint. She had first contacted ACP (Cyber Crime) Gaurav Phogat through social media in July, alleging that Maurya had befriended her on Instagram, built a close relationship with her and promised to marry her before asking for money in the name of AI content creation.According to her complaint, she transferred €450 through Western Union on Aug 4 and another €450 on Sept 10. Police said the money was routed to Maurya’s bank account through Muthoot Finance in the city. After conversion and deduction of charges, Rs 67,297 was credited to his account.Phogat said the woman had initially approached him after failing to register a case in Italy. He remained in touch with her for nearly two months and assured her that police would take up the complaint if the matter fell within their jurisdiction. After she arrived in the city, the complaint was examined and an FIR was registered at Cyber Crime West police station. Maurya was arrested within two days.Police said Maurya admitted to the transaction during questioning. Around Rs 13,000 remained in his account, while the rest had been spent, Phogat said.Maurya, a BSc graduate originally from Azamgarh in UP, was living in a paying guest accommodation in Sector 17A. He had previously worked in technical support for private companies, including RiskBerg Consulting, where he earned around Rs 1 lakh a month, before losing his job in July 2025.Police said he had introduced himself to the woman as an AI content creator after they connected on Instagram around Feb. She was initially interested in using AI-generated content to promote her jewellery designs. Investigators suspect he exploited the relationship by promising marriage and asking her to fund his work.Police said a preliminary background check had not revealed any other complaint against Maurya. The investigation into the alleged fraud is continuing, including an examination of his phone and financial transactions.
