‘Digital arrest’ fraud: 79-year-old Andheri retiree cheated of ₹1.10 crore; company director held

MUMBAI: A 79-year-old Andheri retiree was allegedly kept under a virtual police investigation, threatened with the arrest of his family and cheated of ₹1

MUMBAI: A 79-year-old Andheri retiree was allegedly kept under a virtual police investigation, threatened with the arrest of his family and cheated of ₹1.10 crore by cyber frauds who accused him of being involved in a ₹15-crore money laundering racket. The North Region Cyber police have arrested a company director whose firm’s bank account allegedly received ₹71 lakh of the defrauded money.

The accused, Vrushabnath Dhanpal Tardale, a native of Karnataka and director of Vrushika Agri & Dairytech Private Limited, allegedly opened a bank account in the company’s name to receive part of the money. The police traced the account during their investigation and arrested him.

The victim, Harivandan Dahyabhai Taylor, who lives in Azad Nagar, Andheri, is a retired employee of a prominent private company in Borivali. On September 25, he received a call from an unidentified person claiming to be a police officer from Panchavati police station in Nashik. The caller told Taylor that a bank account had been opened in Nashik using his Aadhaar details and was linked to a multi-crore money laundering racket.

The caller alleged that the racket involved transactions worth ₹15 crore and that Taylor had received a commission of ₹2 crore. He claimed a case had been registered against him and warned that he would be placed under ‘digital arrest’ if he failed to cooperate with the investigation.

To ensure that he did not seek help, they instructed Taylor not to discuss the matter with anyone, including his family. They threatened that if he disclosed details of the investigation, his family members would also be arrested. Terrified by the threats, the septuagenarian kept the matter to himself.

The frauds subsequently sought details of his bank accounts, investments and properties, before directing him to transfer money into four bank accounts. They assured him that the money would be returned once the investigation was completed.

Believing that he was complying with a legitimate police investigation, Taylor transferred money in four instalments of ₹29 lakh, ₹42 lakh, ₹9.5 lakh and ₹30 lakh. The frauds allegedly conducted interrogations over video calls before eventually ending the exercise.

It was only later, when Taylor confided in an office-bearer of his housing society, that he realised he had been cheated. The office-bearer recognised the incident as a cyber fraud and advised him to approach the police.

Taylor subsequently blocked the mobile numbers used by the frauds and approached the North Region Cyber police. The police registered a case against unidentified persons under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to cheating and provisions of the Information Technology Act.

During the investigation, the police traced the bank accounts into which the money had been transferred. One of these accounts, opened in the name of Vrushika Agri & Dairytech Private Limited, had received ₹71 lakh. This led investigators to Tardale, who was subsequently arrested.