86-year-old woman kept under 'digital arrest' for 2 months, duped of Rs 20 crore

MUMBAI: Cyber fraudsters extorted Rs 20 crore from an 86-year-old Mumbai resident by threatening her with arrest, accusing her of money laundering. To make it seem genuine, they made her attend fake court proceedings online. For two months, they called her every three hours to check her location and ordered her to stay home. Two fraudsters have been arrested.
The woman first received a call from a man claiming to be Sandip Rao from CBI, who alleged that a bank account was opened in her name and used for money laundering, including transfers to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal's account. A house help noticed her behavioral changes and informed her daughter. "She would stay in her room, yell at someone, and only come out for food," said a police officer.
Rao claimed her case was being probed by a CBI special investigation team and that a complaint had been filed. During a WhatsApp call, he threatened that her children would be arrested, and their bank accounts frozen. He told her there was an arrest warrant, freeze warrant, and confidential agreement against her. She was warned that if she didn't cooperate, police would be sent to her house.
Scared, she was told she need not visit the police station under "Digital India Movement," and that her "e-investigation" would continue with cops monitoring her. She was asked to provide bank details under pretext of verifying funds linked to "criminal activities."

The woman was kept in "digital police custody," forbidden from speaking to relatives. The accused extracted information about her family, business, and investments over WhatsApp. Rao and another man, Rajiv Ranjan, called her daily for two to three hours, sending fake Supreme Court notices. To "clear her name," they asked her to transfer all her money to a court account, promising a refund after the probe.
After registering an FIR on March4, police arrested Shayan Shaikh (20) from Malad and Raziq Butt (20) from Mira Road. Rs 5 lakh was transferred to Shaikh's account, Rs 9 lakh to another. Butt handed money to another accused, converting it into cryptocurrency.