Overview
- A 72-year-old Mumbai businessman and his wife were coerced over about 40 days to transfer ₹58.13 crore via RTGS after fraudsters posed as TRAI, CBI and ED officials and staged video-call police and court proceedings.
- Officials say roughly ₹3.5 crore has been frozen as the trail spans 13 layers of current accounts opened in shell company names.
- Technical analysis found calls originated from foreign IPs routed through VPNs and TOR, while Mumbai police separately arrested six in Gujarat in related probes that point to contacts in China and Cambodia.
- Seven suspects linked to mule accounts have been arrested by Maharashtra Cyber, with efforts underway to identify the overseas mastermind.
- The role of the victim’s bank branch manager is under scrutiny for possible negligence or complicity in allowing high-value transfers.