An elderly NRI doctor couple from south Delhi has lost crores of rupees, amounting to Rs. 14.85 crore in an online scam. Police investigation has revealed that scammers had shifted the money to bank accounts in seven States across India.

Dr. Indra Taneja, 77 and her husband, Dr. Om Taneja, 81, had got a call from scammers posing as telecome department officials, who threatened them of legal action if they don’t accept a ‘digital arrest’. The couple was accused of money laundering and circulating obscene videos.

Fearing for their lives, both of them agreed to do what the crooks told them to. So, while they were on ‘digital arrest’ from December 24 to January 9 at their home in Delhi, the scammers extracted Rs. 1.99 crore on December 26. The fund transfer was made to a bank account in Jalukbari in Guwahati, Assam. Subsequently, Rs. 2 crore each was sent to Sama Savli in Vadodara on December 29 and 30. On January 2, Rs. 2 crore was transferred to Mayur Vihar Phase III in east Delhi. On January 5, Rs 2.05 crore was sent to Nepean Sea Road in Mumbai, following which on January 6, Rs. 2.1 crore was transferred to Wazidpur in Uttar Pradesh. On January 8 and 9, Rs. 2.2 crore and Rs. 50 lakh respectively were transferred to bank accounts in Moulali in Kolkata, and Belada in Uttarakhand.

All the bank accounts the scammers had used were registered under various entities such as charitable foundations or private firms, making it hard for the police to trace.

Of the total Rs. 14.85 crore, police could put only Rs 1.41 crore on hold. While following the money trail, police could see the huge sum of money siphoned into hundreds of mule accounts and digital wallets via low-value transactions like a minimum of Rs.10.

After working as doctors for over 40 years in the US, the couple had returned to settle down in India. – Image by freepik – editor@nrifocus.com