New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) Two men have been arrested for allegedly duping people by transferring money from original forex cards to new, unmarked cards and then withdrawing it from foreign countries, police said on Tuesday.
The accused have been identified as Sonal, a resident of Paschim Vihar, and Paras Chuahan, a resident of Brahampuri, they added.
Sonal and his associate Sandeep Ojha had withdrawn more than Rs 1 crore from ATMs in Dubai, Hong Kong and Bangkok following the said modus operandi, police said.
A complaint from a forex card user was received last year where she alleged that while she was in the United Kingdom, she came to know that around Rs 11 lakh recharged in her card were fraudulently withdrawn, a senior police officer said.
When the victim arrived in India, she got a complaint lodged with the bank and police, he added.
An inquiry revealed that several such incidents had taken place with other forex card holders of the bank, following which a complaint from the bank was also received, police said.
The probe revealed that the registered mobile number and e-mail ID of the complainant were changed through the bank’s customer care service and money was then transferred from her old card to a new card. Subsequently, a total amount of Rs 64,05,496 was withdrawn from various locations in Thailand in April and May last year.
All data related to the card transactions was collected from the bank. A police team also worked on the data related to Indian passport holders travelling to Thailand on particular dates, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Sagar Singh Kalsi said.
A man was found present at all the locations from where the calls were made to the bank’s customer care. The data related to the travel history of Indian passport holders to Thailand between specific dates was also analysed and the accused was identified as Sonal, the DCP said.
It was also found that Sonal departed for Thailand again in April. He was apprehended when he returned to Delhi, Kalsi said.
The accused revealed that he collected forex cards and the card-holders’ details from Chauhan, an employee of the bank, in 2019. Chauhan also provided the details regarding the transfer of money from one card to another to Sonal, police said.
Sonal and Ojha used to arrange SIM cards for calling the bank’s customer care. The accused also disclosed that he and Ojha travelled to Bangkok in Thailand in April and May last year, where they withdrew money from ATMs using forex cards with the help of Thai national Anurak, the DCP said.
The money was then sent to India using the “hawala” route and the cricket betting network. Sonal had a lavish lifestyle and was repeatedly travelling to Thailand after the withdrawal of the money.
He also disclosed that money was withdrawn from Hong Kong and Dubai in 2019 too using a similar method. An amount of around Rs 1.25 crore was withdrawn by the accused from different countries, police said.
Chauhan was also arrested subsequently and he told police that he was well-versed with the process of transfer of money from one card to another. He also disclosed that he provided the data of forex cards and the card-holders to Sonal.
Seven mobile phones, two SIM cards and two cars were seized from the possession of the accused, police said, adding that efforts are on to arrest Ojha. PTI NIT RC
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Source: The Print
