Businessman loses Rs 80 lakh as person collecting money for transit turns out to be scamster

Mumbai, Dec 24 (PTI) A Mumbai-based businessman lost Rs 80 lakh as the cash he was supposed to send to his business associate in Bengaluru was collected from his house by a scamster, who even showed the secret code number to his wife to make her believe that he was genuine, officials said.

The police have registered a case against unidentified persons for duping the businessman residing in Vile Parle area of the city.

The complaint in this connection was lodged by Shankarlal Ratanlal Gidda, who runs a logistics business on Andheri-Kurla Road. He frequently conducts financial transactions with his relative and business associate, Sundar Sumani, who also works in the logistics and import-export sector in Bengaluru.

During the probe, the police found that Sumani had last week called Gidda and inquired if he had Rs 80 lakh in cash.

After receiving a confirmation from him, Sumani told Gidda that he was sending someone to collect the money. Immediately afterwards, Sumani sent a mobile number along with a code on Gidda's WhatsApp.

Shortly thereafter, Gidda received a call from an unknown number from Bengaluru, confirming the message and the money. The caller identified himself as Dinesh Bhai and said he was sending his man to collect the money.

Accordingly, the accused arrived at Gidda's housing society in Vile Parle. Gidda then called his wife at home and instructed her to take the code from the person who had arrived. That person showed to Gidda's wife the code number that Sumani had provided. The code was verified by Gidda's wife, and she handed over Rs 80 lakh in cash, the official said.

Only a few minutes later, Sumani received another call and he realised that he had been scammed. Sumani said that the person sent to collect the money was busy, and something seemed amiss. Gidda immediately called his wife and asked her to stop the person who had come to collect the money. But by then, the person had already left with the money. All the numbers that Sumani and Gidda contacted were switched off.

After a thorough investigation, the police found that Sumani had also been defrauded. A person had called Sumani and told him that a friend named Ranka, who lives in Dubai, had given him Sumani's number, and that he could help him transfer money from Mumbai to Bengaluru. Sumani trusted him and gave him the responsibility of collecting and transporting the money.

Gidda then approached the Vile Parle police station and recorded a detailed statement.

Based on his complaint, the police registered a case against the unidentified accused under various sections of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act. Using the location of the mobile numbers and the description of the accused, the police are now searching for them, the official added. PTI ZA NP