Online fraudsters dupe Jodhpur businessman of Rs 16.24 crore

Police said that when Kalani tried to arrange the amount, his family members got to know about it and stopped him from making any further payments to the fraudsters.

Jodhpur:A handicraft exporter in Jodhpur has been allegedly duped Rs 16.24 crore by online fraudsters who lured him with lucrative profit from investment in a foreign company.

Police sources said that on October 31, a woman, assuming to be a foreigner, sent a what's app message to the handicraft exporter Arvind Kalani convincing him to take up membership in the company and invest in it for high returns. Kalani took up membership of the company and invested Rs 2.27 crore, police said adding that the fraudsters also took his digital signature by sending him an agreement.

They further revealed that the fraudsters gained his trust by paying him a commission for a few days. They fraudulently showed Kalani that a profit of $6.64 lakh has been credited to his company wallet. But when he was unable to withdraw it, the fraudsters asked him to deposit Rs 5 crore to upgrade his company membership.

Police said that when Kalani tried to arrange the amount, his family members got to know about it and stopped him from making any further payments to the fraudsters. When Kalani refused to upgrade his membership and demanded that he be allowed to withdraw the amount in his company wallet the fraudsters removed him from the what's app group following which he filed a police complaint.

"The fraudsters duped him by showing him a fake profit of Rs 50 crore and made him pay a commission of Rs 16.24 crore on that profit. It seems that the forecasters and the company were part of a gang who duped him. Initial investigation has revealed that the same gang under different names has duped several people in the country," said ACP Mangilal Rathod of Cyber ​​Cell who is leading the investigation.