Ahmedabad: A father-son duo from Delhi was arrested by Ahmedabad police for allegedly extracting Rs 11.06 crore from a city businessman by posing as bank officers and luring him to invest in various schemes and insurance products over three years, said officials on Thursday.
The arrests were made by the cyber crime branch of the Ahmedabad police on Wednesday. After a week-long surveillance on the movements of the suspects, officials of the cyber crime branch arrested Saurabh Giri, 25, and his father Brijesh, 50, from Bhajanpura in Delhi and brought them here on Thursday, said police.
In his complaint, apparel trader Prataprai Avtani had alleged that he was duped to the tune of Rs 11.06 crore by some people who had posed as officials of a private bank. They lured him into investing in government bonds, mutual funds and insurance schemes which the fraudsters claimed would give over 18 per cent annual return, said police.
To win Avtani's trust, the accused sent fake letters and other documents bearing fake stamps and symbols of the RBI, the Income Tax Department, the Ministry of Finance and the IRDA via email and WhatsApp, it said.
Putting trust in the claims made by the accused, Avtani deposited Rs 11.06 crore in various bank accounts between June 2016 and December 2019. When he did not receive any return, Avtani approached the cyber crime cell on January 24. Police said Saurabh Giri was the mastermind of the crime, while his father helped his son in duping the businessman.
"Saurabh had the details of Avtani as he once worked at a call centre of a private bank which offered life insurance products," said Deputy Commissioner of Police, cyber crime, Rajdeepsinh Zala. "With the help of his father, Saurabh hatched a conspiracy and duped Avtani who deposited money in five bank accounts of the duo thinking he was investing in genuine schemes," he said.
The investigation also revealed that the duo purchased property with the money, Zala said.
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