Banker and wife booked for duping retired central govt officer

Ahuja and his wife contracted Covid-19 in April 2021 and his son came from the USA to look after them. The son then started following up on the investment status but the suspect kept giving him evasive replies

Police booked a couple for allegedly duping a retired government officer on the pretext of investing his money in the share market, officials said on Thursday. According to cops, the prime suspect worked at a private bank in the city while his wife was a sub-broker with an investment firm. The couple is yet to be arrested, police added.

The banker suggested Ahuja invest money in mutual funds and the share market instead of keeping it in the bank. (REUTERS)

Brij Lal Ahuja (84), former deputy director (security), Parliament, gave cheques amounting to ₹1.3 crore to the suspect but he misappropriated them by opening two bank accounts in the victim’s name with forged documents. The suspect also created a power of attorney by forging Ahuja’s signature. Ahuja managed to recover at least ₹30 lakh by writing to several firms where his money was invested with the forged documents. Police said the suspect worked as a bank manager which made it easy for him to open the accounts.

The suspect was posted in the Sushant Lok branch of the private bank he was employed with when he came in contact with the victim in 2013. Ahuja, who retired in 2000, held a savings account at the same branch. The suspect became acquainted with him and even visited Ahuja’s house in Sushant Lok 1, along with his wife. The couple also visited Ahuja in Delhi where he stayed with his daughter sometimes.

The banker suggested Ahuja invest money in mutual funds and the share market instead of keeping it in the bank. According to investigators, Ahuja gave him two cheques of ₹50 lakh each on July 3, 2018, and September 20, 2018. He later gave him another cheque of ₹30 lakh in March 2019. The banker gave ₹1 crore to his wife which she lost in betting, investigators informed.

“The suspect forged a power of attorney and invested the rest of the money in shares of an insurance and banking firm’,” a senior officer privy to the case said. The suspect kept providing Ahuja with either forged investment statements or told him that the money was safe whenever the octogenarian asked for his investment status.

Ahuja and his wife contracted Covid-19 in April 2021 and his son came from the USA to look after them. The son then started following up on the investment status but the suspect kept giving him evasive replies. Ahuja’s son then approached the firm whose names were printed on the statements and got to know that no such investment was ever made.

Based on Ahuja’s complaint, an FIR against the couple under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 34 (common intention), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (fraudulently or dishonestly using a forged document or electronic record as genuine) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Sushant Lok police station on Wednesday. Ahuja submitted the complaint on July 11 last year but the FIR was registered only after a detailed inquiry which found the allegations to be true.

Ahuja alleged that after his son pressured the couple, they visited their residence one day and confessed to losing ₹1 crore in betting. “I invested a major part of my life savings. I ran to the police station several times to get the FIR registered,” he alleged. Inspector Deepak Kumar, station house officer, Sushant Lok police station, said that investigation has just begun as the FIR was registered on Wednesday.