New Delhi, Dec 14 (Bureau) Four people were arrested for allegedly involved in fraud in the name of the Ministry of Finance. The accused used to pose themselves as officials from the Ministry of finance, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), IRDA (BIMA Lokpal), Delhi Police said on Tuesday. According to police, the gang was allegedly preparing/using forged documents of the Ministry of Finance bearing the signature of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, SMN Swamy, Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India, IRDA (Bima Lokpal) and various Life Insurance Companies. They used to collect data from insurance companies and accordingly target the victims by sending forged documents and forged cheques in order to entice and dupe gullible insurance policy holders, Delhi Police said. The accused have been identified as Mehtab Alam (33), Sartaj Khan (31), Mohd Junaid (29) and Deen Mohd. (27). With their arrest, the team recovered one laptop being used to prepare forged documents, 7 mobile phones used for calling victims, three alleged email IDs and domain name used for sending mails to victims, data sheet of insurance policy holders containing details of future potential victims, alleged bank account/ ATM Card used for receiving money and email chats with the victims, Police added. A reference from the Ministry of Finance/Government of India regarding financial fraud, impersonation and using forged documents in the name of the Ministry was received at the office of Commissioner of Police, Delhi.
Sensing the gravity of offence, the reference was immediately marked to the IFSO unit of Special Cell, Delhi Police.In the reference attached, the victim stated that he was telephonically approached by one person and was told that some amount was sanctioned against his lapsed insurance policy. He was asked to provide his email ID. Then a letter was sent to the victim through a fake email id wherein he was informed that an amount of Rs. 12.46 lakh had got sanctioned against his lapsed insurance policies. He was initially asked to pay Rs 44 thousand as processing charges. When he paid the said amount, he was again asked to pay Rs 27 thousand as NOC charges and when the victim paid the asked amount, a fake/forged cheque of Rs 12,46,518 was sent to victim by the fraudsters thorugh post. When the victim got the cheque, he was again asked to pay Rs 52 thousand as the final fund release charges and he was told that without paying the said amount, he won’t be able to get the cheque amount. Therefore, in total the victim was cheated for Rs 1.27 lakh, Police said. The team started investigation and zeroed down the location and identity of the alleged persons involved in the crime. The accused persons were constantly changing their locations. Therefore, the team conducted raids at and around the places of locations of the alleged persons. After meticulous efforts, the team successfully apprehended the mastermind of the syndicate, Mehtab Alam, from Delhi’s Mustafabad. Further his three other associates were also traced and arrested. Hunt for other co-accuses involved in these offences is under progress, Police said.