Matrimonial Scam: Man posing as doctor dupes woman of Rs 22.7 lakh

Bhubaneswar: In another case of fraud, a man posing as a doctor at the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Manamunda allegedly cheated a woman and her family of Rs 22.70 lakh by falsely promising to marry her to his brother and claiming the money was needed for various investments.

The accused reportedly gained the family's trust and collected money under false assurances. He took the amount, citing marriage plans and fake investment schemes, like Covid-19 senior citizen policies, departmental training programmes, and even petrol pump dealership auctions.

The fraud began in 2021 when the accused allegedly created a fake profile on a matrimonial website by claiming to be Dr Prakash Pradhan, a medical professional.

Also read- Cachar police arrest fake doctor practising without qualifications

According to police, the accused later introduced another fake identity, claiming that his younger brother, Tushar Pradhan, was a Deputy Manager at the State Bank of India (SBI) in Rayagada. Using these false identities, he convinced the woman’s family that the marriage proposal was genuine and that he came from a well-educated family.

After gaining the family’s confidence, he persuaded the woman's father to transfer money for his investment schemes. Between June and December 2021, the family transferred a total of Rs 22.70 lakh to the accused.

Soon after receiving the money, the accused stopped responding to calls and messages. This made the family suspicious. After being unable to get their money back, they approached the police and filed a complaint, as per Odisha Bytes Media report.

During the investigation, the police verified details with the SBI Rayagada branch and the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Manamunda and found that no such persons were working there.

Further financial probes showed that Pradhan had used his father’s bank account to receive the cheated amount and employed multiple identities to execute the deception.

Also read- International Kidney Trafficking Racket: Solapur man posing as doctor arrested