Six Arrested for Allegedly Defrauding Bengaluru Woman of Rs 24 Crore

In a significant cyber fraud case, six individuals have been arrested by the Karnataka State Cyber Command for allegedly scamming an elderly woman in Bengaluru out of ₹24 crore. The suspects posed as officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and employed psychological intimidation tactics to persuade the victim to transfer funds over several months.

The victim, a resident of Shivajinagar, previously worked as a teacher in Dubai before retiring. She had been planning to relocate to the United States to live with her children and sold multiple properties in Bengaluru and Mumbai to finance this move.

According to police reports, the fraud began in January and continued until May this year. The accused contacted the victim through video calls, claiming her bank accounts were linked to a money laundering investigation. They pressured her not to inform anyone, stating she was under “digital arrest”.

Over the course of their deception, the fraudsters convinced the woman to make numerous transactions through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), leading her to transfer a staggering ₹24 crore to 22 different bank accounts under their control. Despite this substantial sum, the scammers continued to demand more money.

In her attempt to raise additional funds, the woman approached a private bank in Bengaluru to pledge approximately 1.3 kilograms of gold jewellery. Bank officials noticed the unusually high quantity of gold being pledged and alerted local authorities.

When police intervened and questioned her, the woman initially hesitated to share details but eventually revealed she had been subjected to fraud, claiming she was under a form of digital confinement. The police educated her about the scam, which prompted her to file a formal complaint.

The complaint led to an investigation by the cybercrime unit, which uncovered a network of bank accounts involved in the laundering of the fraudulent proceeds. They worked in conjunction with the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal to freeze several accounts, saving over ₹4 crore. An additional ₹1.46 crore was recovered through court orders.

In the investigation, authorities seized six mobile phones allegedly used in the crime and arrested the following individuals: N. Sivagnanam from Erode, Tamil Nadu; Akkach Mallick from Mumbai, Maharashtra; Palak Bhai Patel and Amit Narendra Patel from Ahmedabad, Gujarat; Om Prakash Rajput from New Delhi; and Gaurav Kumar from Bihar.

Pronab Mohanty, Director-General of Police for the Karnataka State Cyber Command, stated that the investigation is ongoing to identify the broader network of cyber fraud and additional suspects involved in this case.