Police in Belagavi have arrested two individuals from Hyderabad in connection with a sophisticated 'digital arrest' scam that defrauded an elderly businessman of over Rs 15 crore.
Two people were arrested in connection with a 'digital arrest' scam in which an 81-year-old businessman allegedly lost over Rs 15 crore after fraudsters posing as CBI officials accused him of involvement in a financial crime, police said on Saturday.
The accused duo -- Venkatesh Sharath Naik and Degavat Sripada Naik -- both residents of Hyderabad, were apprehended during an operation conducted by the investigators recently, they said.
Their arrests followed a detailed investigation into the case registered on March 18 at the Belagavi City Cyber Crime police station.
According to the police, investigators traced 10 beneficiary accounts spread across Hyderabad, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and West Bengal. A Rs 2 crore transfer to a Hyderabad account provided the breakthrough in the probe, following which on April 6, a Cyber Command Unit team raided locations in Hyderabad, leading to the arrest of the two individuals.
Investigators revealed that the duo had handed over their joint account details, internet banking credentials and cheque books to a handler who remains at large.
According to officials, the senior citizen received multiple calls, including video calls, for nearly six weeks.
The fraudsters claimed that the victim had received a Rs 5 lakh commission for laundering Rs 25 lakh and that complaints had been filed against him for illegal financial activities.
Threatening to arrest him in a money laundering case, they allegedly coerced the victim into sharing his account and financial details with them and transferring the money to a "safe or government account," they added.
They assured him that the amount would be returned after the investigation. The victim grew suspicious when he received no response from the callers and found all mobile numbers untraceable, according to officials. He then complained to the police.