Five years after he was cheated of ₹5 lakh, a 72-year-old retired Border Security Force (BSF) Deputy Commandant on Wednesday registered a first information report claiming he was duped of ₹36 lakh by fraudsters in 2018.
Victim Ved Prakash Sharma filed his complaint at south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar police station, the police said on Thursday. Mr. Sharma told the police that the accused had in April promised to help him get both the money he lost in 2013 along with the promised bonus.
He stated in his complaint that he had received a call from a person in 2013 who claimed that the government was giving ₹10 lakh to senior citizens under the ‘Common Wealth Games Scheme’ if they had life insurance policies. The caller not only convinced him to buy a life insurance policy but also insisted that he purchase more policies or he would lose his deposit.
Convinced, the retired BSF officer decided to purchase nine life insurances policies worth ₹5 lakh in his son’s name. Soon after that, the accused stopped taking his calls and disconnected the mobile number.
“I only deposited one instalment for the nine policies because the agent promised I will get my money back with a bonus. I was not in a position to deposit money for three years to continue the policies. Even the insurance companies refused to refund my money saying I had not completed the three-year payment. I lost hope after that,” said Mr. Sharma.
In April 2018, the victim received a call from a man who claimed he was a government official with the Jeevan Bima Lokpal in Mumbai. Claiming he had received Mr. Sharma’s file, the accused told him that he would receive ₹45 lakh. He claimed the amount included a refund of the instalment amount the victim had paid for the policies in 2013 along with the bonus he was promised.
“The caller had all the details of the policies I had purchased in 2013. He told me to deposit money for timely clearance of my file. I stopped after making a few deposits. The caller then claimed I would lose all the money I had deposited so far if I did not continue to make payments. I deposited ₹36 lakh in various bank accounts,” Mr. Sharma said in his complaint.
He recently got a call from another “agent” who claimed that his file was stuck due to the appointment of a new Governor at the Reserve Bank. The new “agent” demanded more money on the pretext of releasing “₹45 lakh”.
At this, Mr. Sharma got suspicious and reported the matter to the police.
“We have registered a case under Section 420 [cheating] of the Indian Penal Code at Malviya Nagar police station. The case is under investigation,” said a senior police officer.