Gwalior: A businessman here fell victim to international fraudsters and lost millions of rupees. Lured by the prospect of hefty profits, the businessman got trapped in their scheme. The fraud was committed under the pretext of procuring raw materials from Rangareddy district in Telangana. The businessman was cheated by a UK-based pharmaceutical company that claimed to be producing obesity medication. The entire scam was orchestrated by international fraudsters operating from Delhi. Gwalior Crime Branch police arrested a man from Tanzania and a woman from Meerut in Delhi in connection with the case and are investigating further.
According to the police, the fraud was committed under the pretext of procuring raw materials from Rangareddy district Hyderabad for producing obesity medication by a UK-based pharmaceutical company. The fraudsters lured Gwalior businessman Vijay Sharma with the promise of a 20 per cent commission for every consignment.
A representative of the England-based pharma company, Lawrence Elvis, contacted Vijay Sharma and claimed that their company manufactures obesity-reducing medicine and needs to import some organic raw materials from India. The fraudsters also informed the businessman that this raw material could be found in Rangareddy district in Telangana, and if he exported it to them, they would give him a 20 per cent commission on each consignment. This led the businessman to fall into their trap.
Lawrence Elvis, the representative of the England-based pharma company, also provided Vijay Sharma with the number of another representative from the same company. Vijay Sharma purchased the first sample for Rs 8 lakh and sent it to the pharma company's representative, Lucas Edwards, in Delhi. He approved Vijay Sharma's sample. After that, he stated that they would buy larger quantities.
From July 2023 to February 2024, businessman Vijay Sharma sent raw materials worth approximately Rs 49 lakhs. As the demand from the fraudsters in the name of the pharma company kept increasing, he began to suspect something was off. When he investigated the company mentioned in Hyderabad, Agro Herbal, he discovered that it was a fake company. Following this, he lodged a complaint with the Crime Branch police. When the police retrieved the details of the transferred amounts, they found links to about 15 different accounts.
Gwalior ASP Shrikrishna Lalchandani reported that Vijay Sharma, a businessman from Gwalior, had lodged a complaint about the fraud with the Crime Branch. Following this, the investigation was initiated. When the police retrieved the details of the transferred amounts, they found links to around 15 accounts. Subsequently, the Crime Branch team arrested Terry Obe, a resident of Tanzania, and Venus Rawat, a resident of Meerut, from the Kishanganj area of Delhi. They are currently being interrogated. It has come to light that this international gang has similarly defrauded several businessmen across the country. The police are interrogating the accused. They also recovered laptops, five mobile SIM cards and some cash from the accused.
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