Jnk doctor swindled of Rs 2.7 crore by fake PMO official

Bengaluru: In a disturbing case of fraud, a Jammu and Kashmir-based doctor allegedly lost Rs 2.7 crore in a proposal offer made by the fraudster, promising to arrange government approval for setting up a villa-style Ayurveda hospital near Devanahalli.

The police have arrested the accused, who pretended to be a high-ranking official from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and falsely claimed to be the adopted son of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

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As per the latest Asianet News report, the incident took place when the accused contacted the doctor and introduced himself as a top PMO official. To appear credible, he even showed photographs of himself sharing the stage with Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar.

To cheat the doctor, the accused claimed he could arrange government approvals for a state-of-the-art villa-style Ayurveda hospital near Devanahalli. Believing him, the doctor transferred money in several instalments, adding up to Rs 2.7 crore.

After realising he had been fooled, the doctor filed a complaint. Based on his complaint, the police registered a case, arrested the accused and interrogated him.

During the interrogation, police discovered that the accused had a long history of cheating. He has been jailed twice earlier and has four cheque-bounce cases registered against him.

Further investigation is underway to identify others.

Medical Dialogues had reported that a 74-year-old doctor from Ahilyanagar lost Rs 7.17 crore after being kept under "digital arrest", during which scammers even staged a fake online courtroom to deceive him. The fraud lasted for a week until the doctor was coerced into transferring Rs 7.17 crore in multiple transactions to various bank accounts controlled by the fraudsters.

Also read- 74-year-old doctor falls victim to Rs 7.17 crore digital arrest scam