A 34-year-old woman, who used to dupe people by claiming to be the vice-president of a leading English news channel, was arrested, police said here on Thursday.
The woman, Payal Samuel, was nabbed from Mumbai on August 15 and brought to Delhi, they added. She was arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by Ravi Patel. He runs a leading travel agency in the city and also provides online air tickets and hotel bookings.
He alleged she had defrauded him to the tune of ₹30 lakh within one-and-half month by purchasing air tickets (domestic as well as international), foreign exchange, and hotel bookings etc., the police said.
She offered huge business worth crores of rupees to the complainant. When he demanded his money, she started delaying the payment (₹30 lakh) on frivolous excuses, the police said.
Suspecting her conduct, Mr. Patel checked about her on the Internet and found
about her cheating several businessmen in Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh using similar tactics. Mr. Patel approached the Crime Branch and filed a complaint on April 21, said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajiv Ranjan.
During investigation, it was found that a case of cheating was registered against her in Bhopal for cheating a businessman Chander Vadhwani, in 2012, the officer said. To evade arrest, the accused woman kept changing her locations frequently between Pune and Mumbai, he said.