Pimpri-Chinchwad: A senior citizen living his retired life in Pimpri-Chinchwad was duped of Rs 1 Crore when he was called by cyber thieves posing as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers. Telling him that his name has come up in a money laundering racket busted by the Enforcement Directorate, all the money in his account needs to be verified, or the senior citizen will be “digitally arrested”.
A 77-year-old resident of Shivaji Park in Chinchwad has complained to the Cyber Police Station. The incident took place between 30th December 2025 and 14th January 2026. A case regarding this was registered on Monday.
Cyber Police have booked holders of three phone numbers: +91 14823 53000 (claiming to be from the Telephone Department), +91 94406 27473 (claiming to be a Surveillance Officer), and +91 60334 42489 (claiming to be a CBI Officer).
These unknown people have been booked for cheating, forgery, and criminal breach of trust under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) of 2023 and the Information Technology Act of 2000.
According to police reports, on 30th December, the accused contacted the complainant from multiple numbers, posing as officials from different departments belonging to the government. The callers informed the complainant that he had a Canara Bank account that was uncovered during an ED raid on Naresh Goyal.
According to media reports, Naresh Goyal, founder of Jet Airways, was arrested by India's Enforcement Directorate (ED) in September 2023 in a money laundering case related to the alleged syphoning of Rs 538.62 crore in loans from Canara Bank; he later received interim bail in May 2024 on medical grounds due to cancer, which the Bombay High Court made absolute in November 2024, though he remains restricted to Mumbai and faces ongoing legal proceedings.
Recently, Naresh Goyal’s name has been used too much to lure citizens into believing that, indeed, proof of their wrongdoings (which they didn't do) is with the authorities. Police said that in this case, they alleged that this account was being used for money laundering. To "save" him from legal action, they claimed they needed to perform a "legality check" on the funds in his bank accounts and mutual funds.
By instilling a fear of arrest, the accused dishonestly and forcibly coerced the complainant into transferring a total of Rs 1,00,00,000 to various bank accounts. Despite assuring him that the money would be returned after the "legality check", the accused did not return the funds and defrauded him.
After 14th January, the senior citizen couldn't reach the accused. He waited for some days, but after around five days, he reached out to the Cyber Police Station. Acting swiftly, cyber police have managed to freeze the account into which his money went. Over Rs 6.50 lakh has been managed to freeze in this action, but further investigation and proceedings are ongoing.
