‘2 kg necklace, excavated gold’: How Delhi businessman was duped of ₹30 lakh

A businessman from Paschim Vihar was introduced by a hardware shop owner, to a woman referred to as "mother" and two men claiming to be father and son.

A 59-year-old man was arrested for allegedly duping a local businessman of ₹30 lakh by peddling fake “excavated gold” and spinning a tale so “convincing” that even a gold purity test backed the alleged scam, a police official told PTI.

The three told the businessmen they had for sale gold that was excavated in a digging at their home in Mathura.

Mohan Rai, the arrested individual, is a resident of Uttam Nagar, while his accomplices are still at large. The police have recovered ₹1.70 lakh from his possession.

According to the PTI report, a businessman from Paschim Vihar called Gaurav Soni was introduced by a hardware shop owner Ramesh Sharma, to a woman referred to as "mother" and two men claiming to be father and son.

The three told Soni they had for sale gold that was excavated in a digging at their home in Mathura.

Fraudsters provided two golden pearls to victim

"Initially, the fraudsters provided two golden pearls, which tested to be 78 per cent pure gold. Gaining the victims' trust, they later presented a necklace set weighing around 2 kg and struck a deal for ₹80 lakh," additional DCP (Southwest) Akanksha Yadav said.

Believing it to be genuine, Soni arranged ₹30 lakh, with the remaining payment contingent on further verification.

He received the gold but when he put it to scrutiny he found it to be fake. When he tried to contact the three, he found their phones switched off.

On December 25, an FIR was registered at Palam Village Police Station and an investigation was taken up.

Police analysed more than 100 mobile numbers and IMEI records, and eventually nabbed Mohan Rai on March 3.

During interrogation, Rai confessed to orchestrating the scam with Babu Lal and Lakshmi, who supplied the fake gold. He said he received ₹9.5 lakh from the fraud proceeds.