Mumbai crime branch busts gang duping forex traders, 3 held

Crime branch unit VIII senior inspector Laxmikant Salunkhe said that on February 28, an offence was registered at the Vakola police station based on a complaint by the forex trader.

According to the complainant, he was approached by a person who identified himself as Krishna. He said that he was working in the film industry and forged a friendship with the forex trader.

Last month, he said that he needed US$25,000 for a film shoot abroad. The complainant agreed to provide the same and on February 27, the person called him to a five-star hotel in Kalina. There, he took US$25,000 from him – approximately Rs 21.25 lakh – and asked him to wait till he got the Indian currency for him.
He, however, pretended to be talking on the phone and fled from there, the complainant said. Following this, the forex trader approached the police.

Crime branch unit VIII that was conducting a parallel probe in the matter checked the CCTV footage of the hotel and found a grab of the accused person. Based on technical evidence the police managed to arrest Majid Khan alias Mannu (44), a UP resident, Mayank Sharma alias Laddu, (22), a Delhi resident and Aakash Agarwal alias Kabir (19), a Thane resident.

The police found that the gang had duped several forex traders across the country in a similar manner by calling them to five-star hotels to exchange currency.

The crime branch found that in January again, they had duped a forex trader of Rs 30 lakh in the city and an offence had been registered at the Airport police station.

An officer said, “We are on the lookout for two more persons including the main accused who is at large. Everyone in the gang had a specific role to play in order to dupe forex agents across the country.”

The accused were produced before the court Wednesday and remanded to police custody till March 12.