Three held for duping businessman for Rs 15 lakh

Mumbai: The property cell of the Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested three persons for allegedly duping a businessman to the tune of Rs 15.81 lakh. The accused are identified as Kadir Ali, 51, Santosh Jha, 36 and Moses Tula, 45 a Nigerian national.

According to the police, the pharmaceutical businessman received an email from his dealer recently, in his mail, the dealer had asked for pending dues of Rs 15.81 lakh claiming that he was facing a financial crisis due to lockdown and is in urgent need of the money.

Soon after receiving the mail businessman sent Rs 15.81 lakh on the account number mentioned in the mail and called the dealer whether he had received the money or not.

However, he was shocked to know that dealer had not asked for any money and sent any such mail and the account number given in the mail is not their’s as well. Businessman then approached the LT Marg police station and registered an offence of cheating and under the Information Technology Act.

During the investigation, the Property Cell of the Mumbai police then traced the account holder which led to the arrest of Nigerian national and his accomplice. The investigation revealed that the accused hacked the email ID by sending him a malicious mail and then checked the victim’s mail box.