PUNE A former Air Marshal has been duped of Rs 1 lakh in an online transaction dated November 15, 2019, for which an offence was registered on Sunday at the Kondhwa police station, against unidentified persons.
According to police, Air Marshal Sunil Sripad Soman (64) (retd), a resident of NIBM, received an email in the name of a friend, Brigadier Ajit Apte (retd).
Air Marshal Soman was asked to send Brig Apte Rs one lakh urgently in the email, claiming that Apte was on a trip to Turkey, according to police. The money was requested to be paid to a developer for buying building material.
Air Marshal Soman in his complaint stated: “Though I sent a cheque of Rs one lakh, my lawyer Dilip Melwani has pointed out that there was a problem with the signature and hence, the cheque could not be credited,” stated the complaint.
Police inspector (crime ) Mahadeo Kumbhar said that Air Marshal Soman, while replying to the email, credited Rs one lakh rupees in a PNB bank based in Gurgaon, by way of a NEFT transfer.
On November 17 , 2019, Air Marshal Soman met Brigadier Apte at an official function at the RSI in Pune and asked him about his Turkey tour. Apte denied ever being in Turkey.
{{/usCountry}}On November 17 , 2019, Air Marshal Soman met Brigadier Apte at an official function at the RSI in Pune and asked him about his Turkey tour. Apte denied ever being in Turkey.
{{/usCountry}}The person(s) perpetrating the fraud made effective use of Brig Apte’s name to set up a fake email account, which the air marshal believed, police said.
This was when the fraud came to light.