Borivali cyber fraud arrested with links in Malaysia and Dubai

Man arrested in Mumbai for cheating man of ₹7.8 lakh in job scam posing as HR head of Malaysia-based firm, part of international scam network.

Mumbai: A 28-year-old man was arrested for allegedly cheating a Borivali man of ₹7.8 lakh after offering him a job entailing the completion of online tasks, by posing as the HR head of a Malaysia-based firm.

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According to the police, the accused, Mohammed Imran Jamal, a native of Tamil Nadu, had been running an alleged scam along with his associates located in Malaysia and Dubai, where he routed the money after conning gullible victims. Police sub-inspector Kalyan Patil from the Cyber department of the Borivali police station said that the complainant, Manish Madhusudan Rane approached him saying that three days ago, he had received a call from a man claiming to be the HR head of the Malaysia-based GBL Digital Marketing Company and they had offered him a job of completing online tasks. Upon completing these tasks, Rane was instructed to deposit a total of ₹7.8 lakh into a bank account via various online payment methods. When Rane realised that he was being cheated, he registered an FIR against the unknown caller.

“I blocked his payment immediately, even though it was three days later. When I checked the account details, I noticed the payment was made to Mehta Jewellers,” Patil said.

He decided to contact Mehta Jewellers in Malwani on a hunch and found that the accused had purchased gold there and even provided his Aadhar card. After reviewing CCTV footage, Patil identified the accused and traced him to another jewellery store.

“After identifying the suspect, we learned he was from Tamil Nadu and had flown to Mumbai,” Patil added.

The police tracked the suspect’s location to Malwani, where they found his mobile phone active. “We set up a trap for two days and eventually arrested Jamal,” added Ninad Sawant, senior police inspector of Borivali police station.

After arresting the accused, during questioning, the police found that his father lived in Malaysia. He admitted to having a cousin in Malaysia and an associate in Dubai, with whom he initiated the scam. Jamal told the police that he was responsible for receiving the fraudulent funds in his account and using them to purchase gold. Subsequently, he was instructed to convert the gold into foreign currency and transfer it to Dubai and Malaysia.

“We have arrested Jamal and are currently investigating further into his connections abroad,” said Patil.