Colaba bizman duped of ₹1.10 crore in investment fraud

She then lured him to invest in a purported scheme by promising high returns, as a fallback during his retirement. Initially, the returns did come in but the businessman realised he had been cheated when the Delhi police froze his bank account

MUMBAI: A 67-year-old businessman from Colaba was cheated of ₹1.10 crore by a cyber fraudster who told him he was Latvian. Police said the woman had befriended him, chatted with him online for over a year, and even met him near the Gateway of India in South Mumbai.

Colaba bizman duped of ₹1.10 crore in investment fraud

She then lured him to invest in a purported scheme by promising high returns, as a fallback during his retirement. Initially, the returns did come in but the businessman realised he had been cheated when the Delhi police froze his bank account.

“We have registered a case on the complaint of the businessman, who was associated with the jewellery business,” said a police officer from the Colaba police station.

The fraudster approached the businessman via social media in November 2022. “Initially, they chatted online and she claimed she was Parsi just like he was. Originally hailing from Gujarat, she had settled in Latvia,” said the police officer.

The two of them chatted across several days in February 2024. The woman even met him outside a luxury hotel in Colaba, when she told him about various investment schemes he could allegedly benefit from after retirement. She claimed he would receive 14% returns on his investment if he transferred money into various bank accounts, said the police officer.

In March 2024, the businessmen received around ₹99,000 in alleged returns on his supposed investment, and on April 6, he received around ₹5 lakh. He had handed over a total of ₹1.10 crore.

“In June, the Delhi police froze the businessman’s bank account. He then approached his bank, which told him he had been receiving money from the account of a fraudster,” said the police officer. He proceeded to file a complaint at the Colaba police station.

“We have registered a case under Section 419 (punishment for cheating by impersonation), Section 420 (cheating) and Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. We and the South Cyber Police have seized around ₹17 lakh in the case, which will be returned to the complainant,” said the police officer.