Thane: A 35-year-old woman was duped of Rs 29.5 lakh by two persons, one them claiming to be a ‘model’, and another who identified himself as an assistant commissioner of Police (ACP), and promised the woman to help recover Rs 12 lakh that the woman had lost in a cryptocurrency investment scam.
The complainant, who works as a finance manager with a private company, claims she had been introduced to the accused, a man who is a professional model and a resident of Majiwada in Thane through her office colleague at a company party three years ago.
According to the complaint filed at Kapurbawadi police station, the fraud first came to light on May 13, 2023, when she initially lost Rs 12 lakh in an online cryptocurrency transaction.
What followed was a meticulously planned extortion scheme that stretched from May 2023 to June 2024. The fraudsters allegedly used a complex strategy of falsely representing themselves as police officers, creating elaborate stories about recovering her lost money, demanding repeated payments under various pretexts, and threatening violence when she became suspicious, a police officer informed.
The most alarming aspect of the case, said the police, is the fraudsters’ brazen approach. The accused introduced her to one of his friends as ‘ACP Samir Naik’ and convinced her to pay additional funds for supposed investigation expenses and inter-state transfer of her case.
Between May 2023 and Jun 2024, the woman claims she has transferred nearly Rs 23 lakh online, Rs 2.5 lakh in cash, and a final extortion of Rs 4 lakh under threat of physical harm.
When she finally discovered that “ACP Samir Naik” was a fictional character, the fraudsters allegedly threatened her with dire consequences if she reported them to the police, even going so far as to threaten her life.
The complaint includes details of two cheques presented by the fraudsters – one for Rs 60 lakh from a bank and another for Rs 32 lakh from a cooperative bank which they claimed would reimburse her losses. However, they warned her against depositing these cheques.
The Kapurbawadi police registered the complaint and initiated an investigation into the matter. The investigation is going on, and no arrest has been made so far, the police said.
