KOLHAPUR: In one of the biggest cyber frauds reported from the Western Maharashtra region, fraudsters posing as Mumbai Police and Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials forced a 75-year-old Kolhapur resident to transfer a total of Rs 7.86 crore between 26 May and 23 June, under the false pretext of an inquiry into a case of ‘funding a banned terror outfit and money laundering’.The victim, who settled in Kolhapur after retiring in 2012 as an assistant vice-president from a refinery in Jamnagar, exhausted all his savings from investments in shares and a fixed deposit (FD) held jointly with his wife. He made 14 transfers to bank accounts in Mumbai, Nashik, Akola, Chandigarh, Prayagraj, Manoharpur, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. His three sons are settled in the United States, and he had rejoined the refinery in 2017 for two years before retiring fully.According to the FIR, at one point the victim even told one of the fraudsters, who claimed to be an ED official, that he had no involvement in any money laundering and suspected a cyber fraud. The caller then disconnected the call. Later, the victim received another call from someone claiming to be a senior serving officer from Mumbai, who instructed him to cooperate with the supposed ED official.After obtaining details of all his investments and bank balances in the name of verification, the fraudsters sent forged letters, claiming to be from the Supreme Court, Reserve Bank of India, and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). They convinced the victim to sell his shares and deposit the funds from both the sale and the joint FD into the accounts they provided, falsely promising that the money would be returned to him.The Juna Rajwada Police registered a case after conducting a preliminary verification of the victim’s complaint.
