Fraudsters duped Delhi man of Rs 40 lakh claiming to get cash for his property purchase, 4 held

New Delhi, Jul 14 (PTI) A gang of fraudsters claiming to arrange Rs 40 lakh in cash for a man who needed the amount for a property purchase were arrested with bundles of fake currency in south Delhi, an official said on Monday.

Police said they carried out a raid on Wednesday at a flat in Saidulajab near IGNOU Road after the man alleged that he was given Rs 40 lakh cash, all marked as "Manoranjan Bank of India" instead of Reserve Bank of India.

"During the operation, police recovered Rs 1.25 crore in dummy notes, Rs 7.5 lakh in cash, Rs 4.5 lakh frozen in a bank account, a cash counting machine, and a mobile phone used in the crime," Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Ankit Chauhan said.

Police said the gang targeted people who wanted large amounts of cash. Nikhil Srivastava (24), Princepal (20), Parvez Akhtar (43) and Asgar Khan alias Bunty (39) were arrested in connection with the case registered at CR Park Police Station.

The officer said on July 6, a man reported to police that he had been duped of Rs 40 lakh. He said he had arranged the amount with the intention of purchasing property and met a group of people who claimed to get him the required cash if he transferred them the amount from his bank account.

"On July 4, the complainant met the accused at a flat in CR Park. Multiple people were present and they showed him bundles of what appeared to be cash. Trusting them, the complainant transferred Rs 40 lakh to their bank account.

"In return, he was given a bag allegedly filled with cash, which had also been counted in front of him using a cash-counting machine," the DCP said.

However, after reaching home and opening the bag, he discovered that it contained dummy notes and had "Manoranjan Bank of India" printed on them.

Following his complaint, a case was registered and police teams examined CCTV footage from the CR Park and nearby areas. The accused had used end-to-end encrypted calls to contact the victim.

"Eventually, the team traced the money trail to a specific bank account and gathered intelligence. On July 9, acting on a tip-off, a raid was conducted at a flat in Saidulajab near IGNOU Road where Nikhil, Princepal and Parvez were apprehended. The next day, Asgar Khan was arrested when he arrived at the flat," the DCP said.

To execute the fraud, the gang would rent a flat with multiple rooms, according to police. One room contained a trunk filled with dummy currency bundles, while another had a bed with a concealed hole and a cash counting machine on a table.

"On the day of the exchange, the client was shown genuine currency bundles from the trunk. These bundles were counted using the machine to gain the client's trust. The counted cash was then discreetly passed to another accused seated on the bed, who would drop the genuine bundles through the hidden hole.

"An accused below would retrieve them, and dummy notes would be rotated back into the trunk," the DCP said.

Repeated rotation of around 15 real bundles of money made the trick work, making it appear like a large amount of real money. Once the deal was done, the client was handed a bag of fake notes and dropped off at a distance, while the accused quickly vacated the rented premises.

"During interrogation, the accused admitted to having cheated more people. So far, three additional cases have come to light from Tughlakabad, where they cheated Rs 1 crore. An FIR is already registered with the Special Cell, another case in Chhatarpur, where they cheated Rs 30 lakh," the DCP said.

All cases are under investigation, he added. PTI BM BM SKY SKY