Gang of fraudsters busted by Thane police, 6 held

THANE: A gang of six from Karnataka, who duped unsuspecting investors of lakhs of rupees by posing as international traders of precious metals required by atomic centres, was busted the Thane crime branch, the police informed Sunday.
The police said the modus operandi of the gang was to lure affluent investors with handsome returns claiming they needed the money to release money which was stuck with the RBI following a massive business transaction with an international company. The gang also carried forged documents of prominent institutions like the BARC, ISRO and RBI among others to convince unsuspecting victims and used to decamp once they got money, the police said.
“The gang used to pose as traders of copper iridium that is usually required by atomic centres and approach their targets claiming they recently cracked a deal with a Canadian company and were paid nearly Rs 3000 crore. They used to tell their unsuspecting client that the money was held with the RBI for some pending clearances and that they needed few lakhs for clearing the huge amount speedily. They used to target investors with deep pockets promising handsome returns,” said inspector Krishna Kokani, Thane crime branch unit-I.
The gang is learnt to have been active in several cities across the country targeting unsuspecting investors and had recently come to Thane looking for possible targets here. Their motive was busted after the crime branch sleuths got tipped off about their presence following which they raided the hotel they were staying in and arrested them.
“They scouted for local contacts and later convince their investors by showing them forged documents from important institutions across the country like the BARC, RBI and ISRO among others. Once their target was convinced and parted with the money, they used to escape and remain untraceable,” said Kokani.
A case was registered at the Thane Nagar police station following which the accused were arrested and presented before the court that sent them to police custody.
“We are investigating their trail of victims across the states and are also checking for their local sources who provided them with the contacts. We will also track those who helped them get the forged documents,” informed the police.