Pune: A retired officer (72) of a prominent central govt financial institution lodged a complaint on Wednesday evening with the Pune cyber police, stating that cybercriminals threatened to arrest him in a money-laundering case digitally and cheated him of Rs 1 crore.According to the police, the fraud took place between July 25 and 28.Senior inspector Swapnali Shinde of the Pune cyber police said, “The elderly man lives with his family in Sahakarnagar.”The suspects allegedly called the victim on July 25 and posed as officials from the Colaba police station in Mumbai, the police said, adding that they claimed they were investigating a high-profile money laundering case which was also being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and other central govt agencies.It was all on a video call, said the police. The suspects appeared in police uniforms and sent documents related to the case on the letterheads of the ED, CBI, and RBI, to the elderly, the police said.According to the police, the fraudsters claimed that the retired man’s bank account, Aadhaar card, and debit card had been used in the money laundering case. They asked him to cooperate with the investigation and threatened to arrest him if he failed to do so, the police said.The suspects then obtained details of his bank accounts, fixed deposits, and financial transactions. Believing them, the complainant shared the information, police said.The fraudsters later promised to settle the case against the retired officer if he paid them off. They shared details of three bank accounts, and the complainant transferred a total of Rs 1.05 crore to those accounts, police said.
