Key accused buys iPhone, pays MBA fees as doctor duped of Rs 3.9 cr
The accused comes from a “lower middle class background”, as per police, and he was lured by another gang member.
3 min read
Police seized two phones, five ATM cards, two credit cards, four cheque books and copies of visas of the Kingdom of Cambodia and Kingdom of Bahrain from Chetan Kokare. Police have frozen Rs 50 lakh of the amount, which was duped, in various bank accounts.
A 26-year-old MBA student from Mumbai, accused of being part of a Cambodia-based gang of cybercriminals, was arrested on Thursday after he allegedly duped a 55-year-old doctor from Ahmedabad. The woman was placed under “digital arrest” for 10 days and Rs 3.99 crore was extorted from her by making her liquidate her assets, police added.
The accused, identified as of Colaba in Mumbai, allegedly used the proceeds of crime — Rs10 lakh — given to him by his handlers in Cambodia not only to fund his MBA but also to purchase the latest version of iPhone, said SP Dharmendra Sharma, State Cyber Crime Cell of CID, Gujarat. He was arrested following his return from Cambodia.
Chetan Ganpat Kokare, a resident of Colaba in Mumbai, allegedly used the proceeds of crime — Rs10 lakh — given to him by his handlers in Cambodia not only to fund his MBA but also to purchase the latest version of iPhone, said SP Dharmendra Sharma, State Cyber Crime Cell of CID, Gujarat. He was arrested following his return from Cambodia.
Elaborating the modus operandi, officials said that the complainant in this case — the 55-year-old old woman who lives alone – received a call from a person claiming to be a FedEx employee who told her that a parcel sent in her name had been seized. The complainant was told that the parcel had five passports, two credit cards, one laptop, 5 kg of clothes, and 750 grams of banned MDMA drug (better known as ecstacy/molly). The caller was Kokare, added officials.
The caller then told the complainant that the parcel would have to be stamped with a police clearance certificate (PCC) and then pretended to connect the call with what he called the Cyber ??Crime Branch of Mumbai Police.
Then, another accused, who is yet to be arrested, impersonated a police officer, identified himself as Mumbai Crime Branch DCP Milind Baramde, and also spoke with the victim. He allegedly threatened her of implicating her in the case.
The complainant was then allegedly asked to go on a Skype video call where she was placed under “digital arrest” for 10 days. During this period, the members of the gang with Chinese and Cambodian nationals as members extorted Rs 3,99,22,578 from her, as per officials.
The accused comes from a “lower middle class background”, as per police, and he was lured by another gang member. SP Dharmendra Sharma clarified that Kokare was not a cyberspace slave but had willingly gone to Cambodia for 15 days to learn the ropes of carrying out the digital arrest scam. Police seized two phones, five ATM cards, two credit cards, four cheque books and copies of visas of the Kingdom of Cambodia and Kingdom of Bahrain from Chetan Kokare. Police have frozen Rs 50 lakh of the amount, which was duped, in various bank accounts.
In response to similar frauds reported in its name, FedEx has earlier clarified that the company “does not request personal information through unsolicited phone calls, mail, or email for goods being shipped or held, unless requested or initiated by customers.” The firm had cautioned that if any individual received any suspicious phone calls or messages, they should not provide their personal information and report to the law enforcement authorities instead.
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