Kolkata: Following Saturday’s seizure of counterfeit currency with a face value of Rs 9 crore from a hotel near the Dhamakhali ferry ghat in Sandeshkhali, North 24 Parganas, police have unearthed an online investment fraud racket. Police said the gang was run by Abhishek Tiwari, who is on the run. On Monday, police arrested Tishan Sen, and a search is on for his aides, Sirajuddin Molla and Debottam Chakraborty.ADG (CID) Vishal Garg said, “Tiwari and Sen were arrested by Kolkata Police in Feb in an investment fraud case. We found that the accused offered huge loans to people without much paperwork or background checks. Once the victims agreed to speak to them, they made video calls and used genuine money at the top and fake currency at the bottom to show that they had the cash ready. The victim was then asked to pay a 1%-2% commission to avail of the loan. This was how they cheated Subhasish Acharya of Burnpur, Asansol, of Rs 22 lakh. Acharya, a builder, was offered a loan of Rs 30 crore and got trapped in this scam.”The gang printed the counterfeit currency from a shop in Sealdah. They had told the shop owner that the currency would be used in a movie.
