Fraud tries to extort tyre manufacturer using fake research firm’s name

Unknown person poses as head of research firm and tries to extort $100k from tyre manufacturer by threatening to publish damaging report.

MUMBAI: Posing as the head of an international research firm, an unknown person tried to extort US$1 lakh from a city-based tyre manufacturer threatening to expose the company by publishing a “damning report” on major websites in the USA, Luxembourg, and India, which will harm its share prices.

HT Image

The NM Joshi Marg police have registered an extortion case against the unknown accused based on a complaint filed by Amit Das, who works as a senior manager with Balkrishna Industries Limited, a multinational tyre manufacturing company.

“Posing as the head of an international research firm, the unidentified person wrote an e-mail that the firm had studied the tyre company’s growth in the last five years, its financial activities and made a research report. The e-mail said they will publish the report on all the major websites in America, India and Luxembourg,” said the police officer.

“It was written in the e-mail that the report will have an impact on the company’s standing in the market and its shares would fall,” added the police officer.

If the manufacturer wished to avoid the publication of the said report, the accused demanded last five years’ financial audit report of the company, list of active directors presently on its board and US$1 lakh.

“The man even provided details of a bank account for the company to transfer the money. When the company enquired about the research firm, they learnt that there was no such research firm of the name mentioned in the e-mail,” said a police officer.

“They also learnt that the person might be a fraud who was trying to extort money from them by threatening them and decided to report the matter to us,” said the officer.

“We have registered the offence and will take help from Cyber cell to find the details of the e-mail’s origin and also locate the bank through the details given in the e-mail,” said the police officer.

The case has been registered under sections 385 (putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion), 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery) and 467 (forgery of valuable security) of the Indian Penal Code and under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000.