Pimpri-Chinchwad: A shocking incident has come to light in Pimpri-Chinchwad, where a senior citizen was duped of Rs 22.50 Lakh by cyber fraudsters threatening him with digital arrests. The cyber fraudsters told him his name was involved in child pornography and also said his PAN card was linked to bank accounts used for money laundering. This incident happened from 23rd to 30th September 2025.
A 71-year-old resident of Juni Sangvi has complained to Sangvi Police Station. A case has been registered against two WhatsApp number holders and two bank account holders. Charges included BNS sections 318 (cheating), 316 (criminal breach of trust), and 3(5) (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act of 2000.
Threatened With Involvement In Child Pornography
According to police reports, the victim is a retired engineer from Kirloskar Oil Engines Limited. His son works in the merchant navy, and he lives alone in the Sangvi area. On 23rd September, he received a video call on WhatsApp. The victim was told he would be arrested soon due to his involvement in child pornography. The victim denied charges, but the accused told him they got his phone number, and it's involved in the scandal.
A police official said, “They further claimed that the Cyber Cell had registered a case of money laundering against him and that his Canara Bank ATM card was confiscated from Naresh Goyal's house. Naresh Goyal is the Indian businessman who is the founder of Jet Airways, who had a money laundering case against him. The accused alleged that the complainant had earned a commission of ₹25 lakh by allowing his account to be used for money laundering by Naresh Goyal.”
Police further said that the accused stated that the court had ordered the complainant to be 'digitally arrested' by appearing before the CBI department and the court via an online WhatsApp video call. They also sent corresponding court orders on WhatsApp. To investigate the crime, the accused instructed the complainant to transfer the money from his account to accounts provided by the "court", transferring ₹15.50 lakh and ₹7 lakh, respectively, which the complainant did. Following that, the accused stopped making video calls, at which point the complainant suspected he had been defrauded.
Police Managed To Recover Rs 3.50 Lakh
The victim reached out to the Sangvi Police Station and filed a complaint. A case was registered, and Police Inspector (Crime) Amol Nande is investigating the matter further.
PI Amol Nandekar told The Free Press Journal, “The complainant reached out to us on Saturday, and we filed a case immediately. We informed our Cyber Police Station, and they managed to freeze the accounts to which the money was transferred. We managed to recover approximately Rs 3.50 Lakh. The complainant reached out to us 45 days after the crime was committed. If he had reported it early, we would have managed to recover even more money.”
