Karnataka: Gang seeks help to get crores from RBI, dupes 2 businesspersons | Bengaluru News – Times of India

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BENGALURU: A few members of a gang that allegedly cheated a businessman and businesswoman of Rs 40 lakh each have been picked up by Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths.
The conmen told the businesspersons that several thousand crores of rupees belonging to them were stuck with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and sought financial assistance to get the amount released. They promised a huge sum for their help.
CCB had taken up a case registered in RR Nagar police station on January 5, wherein a 49-year-old woman, Ramamani BH from Tumakuru, alleged that the gang cheated her of Rs 40 lakh. The members told her that Rs 75,000 crore belonging to them was stuck with RBI.
Similarly, the gang duped a 42-year-old businessman, Shekar Reddy from Hyderabad, of Rs 40 lakh by informing him of Rs 99,000 crore stuck with the regulator. Reddy filed a complaint with Subramanyapura police on February 18.
The fraudsters not only took Rs 40 lakh each from the businesspersons, but also travelled to Mumbai and Delhi with all expenditure borne by the latter.
Ramamani told police she came in contact with a suspect, Venkatesh Babu, in 2019. She told him she ran an NGO and had applied for a government project. He informed her that he and his friend needed Rs 150 crore to pay as taxes to get their Rs 75,000 crore fund released from RBI.
They asked her for Rs 20 lakh and assured her they’d return Rs 7.5 crore. She discussed the offer with her husband and relatives, and they agreed to pay the gang. Ramamani and the others met the gang members in a hotel near RR Nagar in 2020. The conmen showed them some documents with RBI letterhead and emblem. After receiving Rs 20 lakh, the gang asked her to book flight tickets for eight members who had to travel to Mumbai to complete the RBI work. She arranged the flight tickets and accommodation. Ramamani made travel arrangements for the gang till July 2021. The scamsters managed to convince her that the work was getting delayed and took another Rs 20 lakh from her by assuring that they would return Rs 9.9 crore in July 2021. She later realised she had been cheated and approached police.
RR Nagar police registered a cheating case, which was transferred to CCB. Cops picked up a few suspects and preliminary investigation revealed the same gang had cheated Shekar Reddy too. Police approached Reddy and registered another case against the gang based on a complaint filed by him at Subramanyapura police station.
Reddy told police he came in contact with Ashok Kumar through some common friends in August 2021. Kumar told him his friend Manjunath’s Rs 99,000 crore was stuck with RBI and sought financial help to get the fund released. Reddy gave them Rs 40 lakh. He arranged a trip to Delhi in September 2021 as they claimed the work had to be done there. But again, the gang claimed the work was not over and later flew to Mumbai from there. Reddy funded their Delhi and Mumbai trips but the conmen did not return his money.
Joint commissioner of police (crime) SD Sharanappa said CCB police are investigating both cases and have detained a few persons for investigation. “The probe is at the preliminary stage and we will share more details on the gang’s activities once we complete the initial investigation,” said Sharanappa.

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