Kerala bishop duped of ₹15 lakh by cyber fraudsters, case filed
The Keezhvaipur police in Kerala has booked an FIR based on the complaint of a Christian bishop that he was cheated of ₹15 lakh by cyber frauds who claimed that his bank account was linked to a money laundering case related to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal.
The Keezhvaipur police in Kerala has booked an FIR based on the complaint of a Christian bishop that he was cheated of ₹15 lakh by cyber frauds who claimed that his bank account was linked to a money laundering case related to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal.
Satheesh Sekhar, sub-inspector at the Keezhvaipur police station, told HT, “We received the complaint from Geevarghese Mar Coorilos on Wednesday through the cybercrime portal. After taking his statement, we have registered a case under sections 66B and 66C of the IT Act and section 318 in the Bharatiya Nyay Samhita (BNS). The probe has begun.”
Geevarghese Mar Coorilos, former metropolitan of the Niranam diocese of the Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church and a popular bishop known for his open views on political and social issues, on Thursday said that the series of events began with a phone call on the afternoon of August 2 from a caller id named ‘Mumbai cyber’.
“The person on the other end, speaking in English, told me that my account in a Mumbai bank was linked to the money laundering case of Naresh Goyal and that if i had to clear my name, I will have to cooperate with the probe. When I said that I don’t have any bank account in Mumbai and I don’t know anyone called Naresh Goyal, the caller said my bank account was likely being misused by the accused and that the case was being handled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI),” Coorilos told reporters.
After an hour, the bishop said he got a video call on his phone in which he could see the CBI emblem and voices of ‘officers’ purportedly handling the case. During the call, scenes akin to those seen in films where CBI officers question and intimidate accused played out and he was asked a series of questions about the bank accounts he owns and the deposits in them.
Coorilos, who remained as the metropolitan of the diocese for 17 years and stepped down in October last year due to personal reasons, said he was told by the fraudsters that he was being put in ‘digital custody’ and that he would be presented online in court the next day in front of a judge. The next day, the bishop, as ordered by the fraudsters, kept the camera on his phone during the fake court hearing and heard the voice of a ‘judge’ who asked him about his involvement in the case.
“I denied the allegations and said that I have no connection to the money laundering case. The fake judge then said that it was a serious case and that all my accounts would be frozen. I was told to declare my accounts and transfer the money in them into a secret service account which is monitored by the Supreme Court. If I am found innocent, the case will be closed and the money sent back to my accounts. I thought if it helps my case, I should do as they are told and transferred ₹13 lakh,” the priest admitted.
The ordeal didn’t end there, he said, as he was then tricked by the fraudsters again to send ₹1.2 lakh as he had recently ‘withdrawn’ the amount from the account. Coorilos borrowed the money from another priest and sent it too. The bishop said he received documents of the supposed ‘court verdict’ with the seal of the judge as well as receipts for the money transferred to the so-called secret service accounts.
“The documents along with the seals even of the Supreme Court of India seemed genuine to me. But my suspicion arose when another person messaged me on WhatsApp pretending to be a CBI officer and asked for ₹2 lakh as a ‘gift’ for helping me out. I said no then. That’s when I suspected foul play and called a lawyer friend of mine for advice. He too was confused when he saw the documents but then he later rang me up to say that a similar scam was played on a chartered accountant in Mumbai,” he said.
The bishop, realising that he had been cheated, filed complaints with the local police and the cyber cell and said he was coming out publicly as he didn’t want anyone else to be defrauded in this manner.
On May 1, HT had reported how a chartered accountant from Vile Parle-East in Mumbai had been cheated of ₹34.7 lakh by fraudsters who used the same modus operandi and impersonated CBI and Mumbai police officers to threaten the victim.