Fake Court & Judge: How ₹7 Crores Were Stolen Online

Cyber criminals are on the rampage duping even bigshots and swindling crores of rupees from them.

From impersonating Chief Justice of India Justice DY Chandrachud and holding a fake Supreme Court hearing through Skype, in connection with a money-laundering investigation against Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal, the fraudsters duped textile industry doyen S P Oswal. The 82-year-old Padma Bhushan awardee was convinced and he transferred Rs 7 crore to their bank accounts.

The Vardhaman Group chairman-cum-managing director Oswal said that he was also taken into “digital custody” by the fraudsters who claimed themselves to be CBI sleuths. They kept him under “digital surveillance for two days via Skype as a “suspect in a money-laundering case”.

Ludhiana police arrested two persons from Assam and also identified seven others spread across West Bengal and Delhi. Over Rs 5.25 crore was also recovered from their bank accounts which they had taken after duping Oswal.

The episode began on August 27 and ended when Oswal refused to transfer more funds after moving Rs 7 crore into their accounts. The FIR was registered on August 31.

Reportedly, Oswal received a call from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) during which the caller threatened that the firm’s telecom services would be disconnected if he did not press 9 on his phone keypad. Accordingly, he pressed 9 and the call ended.

After sometime, Oswal received a call from one Vijay Khanna, who claimed himself as a CBI officer. Khanna told Oswal that his involvement was suspected in the money-laundering case filed against Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways, last year. Later, some documents with the insignia of Mumbai police were sent to Oswal.

The same day they took him into digital custody by the CBI team after a call on Skype. A written CBI order stating about his digital arrest was also shared with him. Then they told him not to speak about the custody to anyone as it would be in violation of surveillance rules, which would entitle him to 3-5 years of imprisonment.

The fraudsters kept surveillance of Oswal even in the night due to which he could not even sleep properly. They did not allow him to stir of the house during the custody.

The fraudsters informed him that his case was being heard in the Supreme Court on August 28 and shared a draft petition with him.

On August 28, they told Loswal about the hearing of the case before CJI D Y Chandrachud. They even made a Skype call and showed him the SC proceedings where Chandrachud was impersonated and later passed an order. The copy of the order was shared with Oswal on WhatsApp. The order directed Oswal to release the money into a Secret Supervision Account that night itself.

Though Oswal could not see Chandrachud on the screen, he was made to believe that it was the CJI ony.

The court order said Oswal should either transfer the money or face arrest, following which he transferred Rs 4 crore to the fraudsters’ accounts. The next day, he transferred Rs 3 crore, totaling to Rs 7 crore.

Though Oswal never met or spoke to Naresh Goyal, he believed in the various documents given to him, which the fraudsters claimed to be issued by the government agencies.

On August 29, Oswal fell ill and had to move out to consult doctor during which he told about the entire episode to his senior colleague Vikas Kumar, who understood that it was nothing but a fraud.

Later, the fraudsters asked for transfer of Rs 2 crore more which Oswal refused to do. They also threatened to arrest him using a fake arrest warrant.

The octageranian said that his confinement was like a movie script.