Elderly Delhi couple lose Rs 14.85 crore in 'digital arrest' scam, two held

New Delhi, Jan 17 (PTI) Two men were apprehended allegedly for duping an elderly couple of Rs 14.85 crore in a "digital arrest" scam in south Delhi, an official said on Saturday.

The accused, Divyang Patel, 28, and Krutik Shitole, 26, residents of Gujarat, were apprehended from Vadodara on Thursday and brought to Delhi on transit remand, police said.

A Delhi court later remanded the two accused to two days' police custody for further interrogation, officials added.

The case pertains to a cyber fraud in which an elderly couple living in Greater Kailash Part I was allegedly kept under so-called "digital arrest" by the accused and coerced into transferring large sums of money over several days.

During the investigation, it was found that on December 29 last year, around Rs 4 crore out of Rs 14.85 crore was transferred into a bank account registered in the name of an NGO run by Divyang Patel, police said.

Subsequently, they siphoned off the amount into multiple bank accounts in smaller transactions to avoid detection, police added.

Further scrutiny revealed that the NGO was fictitious and had no genuine charitable activity.

According to police, Patel allegedly allowed fraudsters to use the NGO's bank account in exchange for commission.

The other accused, Krutik Shitole, acting as an intermediary, allegedly facilitated the contact between Patel and other members of the network.

Investigators said the accused used fake calls, internet banking platforms and email accounts to control, route and divert the funds.

The money trail revealed that the proceeds of crime were routed through bank accounts across multiple states, police said.

Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the syndicate and trace the remaining funds, police said. PTI SSJ SHS SHS SHS