Mumbai Crime: Ex-bank employee dupes senior citizen of Rs 15.86 crores

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A former employee of a leading private bank was arrested on Friday by Bandra police for allegedly duping retired civil engineer of Rs 15.86 crore, promising him Rs 30 crore in return for his investment. The accused identified as Samir Ajit Bose is a resident of Ulhasnagar. He had purchased a flat and a car with the money and has also started a credit society.

According to police, the accused worked with an organised crime gang in which around two dozen people are involved. They used to pose as officials of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and State Bank of India (SBI), to dupe their customers. He had promised the 83-year-old complainant Rs 30 crores insurance in return for investments.

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The 83-year-old complainant is a Bandra resident and his son is settled in the US for the past 20 years. He has invested 4.35 crore in different insurance policies between 2010 and 2016 and he was expecting good returns.

According to the complainant's statement given to Bandra Police, an unknown women called him posing as IRDA officer in October 2014 and asked for his policy details, saying that he can claim that before their maturity period ends. By then the complainant was suffering from some illness that affected his eyes and he wanted all the money back from the different policies he has invested in, before his death.

"The women had all the accurate details and as the complainant trusted her, the women fraudster told him that he will get Rs 30 crore in return for the investment but asked him to pay some charges to get the amount. The complainant agreed to the clause and paid all the charges which were in lakhs, " said an officer.

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After making the payment, the complainant again received a call from another person who posed as an IRDA official and asked for some more clearance charges. "A month later, he received another call from another person saying that the first person is dead and asked him to pay some more charges, and he paid some more amount," the officer added.

The 83-year-old kept making the payments till he ended up paying Rs 15.86 crores assuming that he will get Rs 30 crores in return for his investment. After his son visited him last month, he realized that he was cheated and he approached Bandra police to register an FIR on July 23.

The case was registered under section 419, 420, 120 (b) and relevant sections of the IT act. During the investigation, Bose was arrested from Ulhasnagar." He seems to be the mastermind of the fraud. As he was a bank employee, he has all the details of different investments. Also, there are many people involved in his gang and we suspect that they duped others too," another officer investigating the case, said.

The investigation has revealed further that the accused and his associates have used a total of 75 bank accounts and over 400 transactions to disperse the money.

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