The fraudsters, who posed as probe agency officers and claimed that the woman was linked to a money laundering case, went a step further and showed up at her house to loot her. A 75-year-old woman lost her Rs 2 crore home in Delhi along with jewellery and money – what was her life savings – in a cyber scam that wasn’t just digital.
Radhika then asked her to immediately visit the police station. The fraudsters then began to intimidate the woman by telling her they were going to the DCP. The woman was also threatened that her children would be arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and that she would not be granted bail.
The incident came to light when the woman’s daughter, Radhika Ralhan – who lived in the Netherlands – made a video call to her mother on April 27, and to her shock, saw her with an unknown man in a car. One person claimed to be a CBI officer and told the woman that she and her children would be arrested within the next 30 minutes.
Her mother appeared to be terrified on the call as she informed her about the situation, according to Radhika. When the fraudsters told her about the ‘money laundering case’, she told them that she did not know the procedure for filing a police complaint and that she lived alone at home, according to Radhika. The callers then allegedly said they would help her file a complaint online. She was also told that the matter involved “national security” and so she should not inform this to anyone.
The victim was forced to maintain a continuous video call.
Case reached the High Court
The victim’s daughter approached the Delhi High Court seeking a CBI investigation into the matter. The woman, who was undergoing cancer treatment, received a call on her landline from an unknown number on April 6 – and the callers, who posed as CBI and Enforcement Directorate officers, claimed that her number was linked to another one that had been used in a money laundering case. What followed were harrowing 22 days filled with huge loss and emotional trauma for the elderly woman.
The Delhi Police’s status report, submitted to the High Court, said the role of Kumar was not found in the fraud case.
