The cybercriminals who duped Padma Bhushan awardee and Vardhman Group chairman SP Oswal of ₹7 crore had conducted a fake Supreme Court hearing to intimidate the industrialist. They warned Oswal to not call or text anyone and ordered him to keep his Skype camera on throughout August 29 and August 30.
According to the FIR, the fraudsters posed as CBI officials and accused Oswal of being involved in a money laundering case. They claimed they had found a parcel sent by Oswal's company with 58 passports and 16 ATM cards.
They staged a fake Supreme Court hearing via Skype video call with a person posing as Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
They manipulated Oswal with highly convincing documents, including a Supreme Court case paper titled ‘Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud vs Shri Paul Oswal’. They also send a fake document ordering him to be on 24x7 surveillance.
The cyber thugs asked him to fulfil 70 conditions, including not obstructing camera views and refraining from texting or making calls.
Also read: ₹7-crore fraud: Industrialist Oswal was ‘digital hostage’ for 2 days
He was so intimidated by the calls that he kept the video call on even when he slept. He didn't inform anyone about it.
{{/usCountry}}He was so intimidated by the calls that he kept the video call on even when he slept. He didn't inform anyone about it.
{{/usCountry}}The police told HT that Oswal transferred ₹7 crore in four transactions.
The incident came to the fore when the industrialist told his employee about the incident. The employee found inconsistencies in the whole story.
The thugs wore formal attire and showed their identity cards to the unsuspecting industrialist.
Also read: Vardhman Group chief SP Oswal shares how he was duped and ‘fell into a trap’: Fake SC hearing, surveillance, CBI
They set up flags in the background to show that they were sitting in a government office.
Also read: 2 held for duping Vardhman Group owner Oswal of ₹7 cr
Among those arrested are Atanu Choudhary and Anand Kumar from Guwahati, businessmen who turned to crime because of losses. The police are searching for seven others. They have been booked under sections that deal with extortion, cheating by impersonation, criminal intimidation and criminal conspiracy.
With inputs from Tarsem Singh Deogan