E-Paper
Two Haryana men get 2 years for impersonating Singapore immigration, duping Indians
According to the prosecution, the accused orchestrated a scheme to defraud Indian nationals residing or working in Singapore. They used spoofed calls, impersonating Singapore immigration authorities.
A special judicial magistrate CBI court in Panchkula has sentenced two Haryana residents, Aditya Bhardwaj alias Bhanu from Kurukshetra and Deepak Jain alias DC of Gurugram, to two and a half years of imprisonment. They were found guilty in a sophisticated fraud case registered by the Delhi CBI on September 27, 2016. The charges included cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy, and violations under the IT Act.
The verdict followed a complaint filed by Mohammad Afsar Alam, then an inspector with the CBI in New Delhi. The court convicted Aditya Bhardwaj under Sections 120B, 419, 420, and 468 of the IPC, while Deepak Jain was found guilty under Section 120-B, 420, 468 of IPC, and 66-D of the IT Act. Both were also levied fines of ₹5,000 and ₹20,000 respectively.
According to the prosecution, the accused orchestrated a scheme to defraud Indian nationals residing or working in Singapore. They used spoofed calls, impersonating Singapore immigration authorities, to falsely accuse victims of providing incorrect information on airport disembarkation forms. Threatening criminal cases and deportation, they coerced victims into paying “settlement fees” or “fines” via Western Union money transfers, even demanding confidential money transfer control numbers (MTCNs) to facilitate illicit withdrawals.
A preliminary inquiry identified five fraudulent transactions where money from three Singapore-based victims was withdrawn in Kurukshetra, often using misused or forged IDs. Investigations revealed these transactions, and others, were processed through sub-agents of Reliance Money Express Limited. Aditya Bhardwaj’s firm, M/s Guru Kripa Tours and Travels, was implicated, with Bhardwaj and absconding accomplice Harnek Singh conspiring to misuse IDs and forge documents to withdraw funds from Western Union outlets. During interrogation, Bhardwaj disclosed he received defrauded money via Reliance Money Express credits into his firm’s HDFC bank account, withdrew it through ATMs, kept his share, and forwarded the rest to Deepak Jain, against whom a supplementary charge-sheet was filed.
