In a major cyber fraud case, the North Cyber Cell has arrested an accused, Hemant Sitaram Sawant, for allegedly assisting cyber fraudsters in cheating a 74-year-old man of ₹2.44 crore by threatening him with a “digital arrest” over false money laundering charges.
According to police, the accused had provided his bank account to cyber criminals to facilitate the fraud and is believed to have received a hefty commission in return. He is currently in police custody and being interrogated. Officials are also probing whether funds from other fraud cases were routed through his account.
The complainant, a 74-year-old resident of Dahisar and a retired employee of Mumbai Port Trust, was targeted in the first week of January. He received a call from a man identifying himself as Vijay Khanna, claiming to be an official from TRAI. The caller alleged that a SIM card had been issued in the victim’s name and was being misused, and warned him to file a complaint at BKC or face disconnection.
The call was later transferred to another person via video, who introduced himself as a CBI officer. The victim was falsely told that his involvement had been detected in a money laundering case linked to Naresh Goyal. The fraudsters further claimed that a bank account had been opened in his name, through which ₹25 lakh had been laundered and transferred to Goyal, allegedly sent by an individual named Afzal Khan.
Despite the victim denying any connection to these individuals or the alleged crime, the fraudsters ignored his claims and continued to intimidate him. They threatened him with “digital arrest” and began extracting details of his bank accounts, including fixed deposits.
The victim was told that, as per Supreme Court orders, he would need to transfer his funds to a designated bank account for verification, after which the money would be returned upon completion of the inquiry.
Fearing legal consequences, the victim broke his fixed deposits and transferred ₹2,44,85,948 to the account provided by the fraudsters. He was assured that the investigation would be completed within four to five days and the money would be refunded. However, no such inquiry took place, and the amount was not returned even after a week.
Realizing he had been cheated, the victim approached the cyber helpline and lodged a complaint with the North Regional Cyber Cell. Based on the complaint, police registered a case under fraud and IT Act provisions and launched an investigation.
During the probe, police traced a significant portion of the defrauded amount to a bank account linked to a suspect residing in Kalyan. A team subsequently detained Hemant Sawant for questioning.
During interrogation, Sawant confessed to providing his bank account to cyber fraudsters. He admitted that once the money was deposited, he transferred it to the fraudsters and received a fixed commission for his role.
Following these revelations, police formally arrested Sawant. Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the cyber fraud network and track additional financial transactions linked to the case.