Gurgaon: Ten members of a gang that allegedly cheated a Faridabad-based company of Rs 27 crore were arrested, police announced on Friday.
The company, Shahi Exportshad filed a police complaint in December 2020, saying that its digital coupons worth Rs 27.6 crore had been transferred to another firm — allegedly created by the gang — after someone impersonated its head, Harish Ahuja.
Ahuja is the father-in-law of actor Sonam Kapoor. According to the police, the gang members, who are believed to be active in four states, had floated a fictitious company — Black Curve Corporation — to transfer discounted coupons from Shahi Exports.
Companies involved in exports get discounted coupons from the government for their trade.
These digital coupons, each of which can be up to lakhs in monetary value, can be en-cashed online after procuring a digital signature certificate (DSC) from the government.
The gang initially impersonated Ahuja to get a DSC licence in the name of Shahi Exports.
This allowed them to claim the coupons and access the account of Shahi Exports before transferring them to Black Curve Corporation, the police said.
“These discounted coupons are like recharge vouchers for pre-paid mobile phones,” Faridabad deputy commissioner of police Nitish Agarwal said, explaining the value of the digital assets.
The DCP added that the members of the gang were traced to parts of Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. “The first arrest was made in December 2021 from Delhi. It led to many more arrests,” he said.
The alleged fraud came to light in late 2020, when Shahi Exports flagged the loss of its coupons in a complaint at the Sector 31 police station in Faridabad.
In July 2021, a case was registered under sections 419 (cheating by impersonation), 467 (forging document), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, among others. Sections 66C (fraudulently making electronic signature), 66D (using computer source for cheating by impersonation) and 85 (offence by companies) of the IT Act were also invoked.
Investigation, however, gathered pace after the probe was transferred to the cyber police in November 2021.
The arrested accused have been identified as Manoj Rana (Delhi), Manish Kumar (Delhi), Praveen Kumar Agarwal (Delhi), Manish Kumar Mogga (Delhi), Ganesh Parshuram (Raichur, Karnataka), Bhushan Kishan Thakur (Mumbai), Santosh Sitaram Waghmare (Pune), Rahul Raghunath (Raigad, Maharashtra), Suresh Kumar Jain (Chennai) and Lalit Kumar (Delhi).
Basant Kumar, the SHO of Faridabad cyber police station, said the accused tracked down the export-import code of big companies and using that, they checked the coupons allotted to the firm. Police are still investigating how the gang found this code.
After this, they prepared fake documents in the name of Shahi Exports and recorded a video — impersonating Ahuja — to get a DSC licence from the government.
A video of the company’s leadership displaying one’s identity proof is normally needed for verification to avail the DSC licence.
“Manish impersonated Harish Ahuja and recorded a video to get the DSC,” said SHO Basant, adding that after getting the licence, the gang transferred 154 discount coupons from Shahi Exports to Black Curve Corporation.
Two other accused — Bhushan and Rahul — registered the fake company in the name of Ganesh, an auto driver by profession, police said. Praveen was responsible for the forged documents and Lalit is named as a chartered accountant of Black Curve Corporation.
Although it was an intricate scam, the gang could not cash in the coupons as Shahi Exports raised the matter with the police early on after the fraud, prompting the authorities to block its account.
Krishan Dutt Vasisht, assistant general manager (legal) of Shahi Exports, said, “The matter is under police investigation.”
The company, Shahi Exportshad filed a police complaint in December 2020, saying that its digital coupons worth Rs 27.6 crore had been transferred to another firm — allegedly created by the gang — after someone impersonated its head, Harish Ahuja.
Ahuja is the father-in-law of actor Sonam Kapoor. According to the police, the gang members, who are believed to be active in four states, had floated a fictitious company — Black Curve Corporation — to transfer discounted coupons from Shahi Exports.
Companies involved in exports get discounted coupons from the government for their trade.
These digital coupons, each of which can be up to lakhs in monetary value, can be en-cashed online after procuring a digital signature certificate (DSC) from the government.
The gang initially impersonated Ahuja to get a DSC licence in the name of Shahi Exports.
This allowed them to claim the coupons and access the account of Shahi Exports before transferring them to Black Curve Corporation, the police said.
“These discounted coupons are like recharge vouchers for pre-paid mobile phones,” Faridabad deputy commissioner of police Nitish Agarwal said, explaining the value of the digital assets.
The DCP added that the members of the gang were traced to parts of Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. “The first arrest was made in December 2021 from Delhi. It led to many more arrests,” he said.
The alleged fraud came to light in late 2020, when Shahi Exports flagged the loss of its coupons in a complaint at the Sector 31 police station in Faridabad.
In July 2021, a case was registered under sections 419 (cheating by impersonation), 467 (forging document), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, among others. Sections 66C (fraudulently making electronic signature), 66D (using computer source for cheating by impersonation) and 85 (offence by companies) of the IT Act were also invoked.
Investigation, however, gathered pace after the probe was transferred to the cyber police in November 2021.
The arrested accused have been identified as Manoj Rana (Delhi), Manish Kumar (Delhi), Praveen Kumar Agarwal (Delhi), Manish Kumar Mogga (Delhi), Ganesh Parshuram (Raichur, Karnataka), Bhushan Kishan Thakur (Mumbai), Santosh Sitaram Waghmare (Pune), Rahul Raghunath (Raigad, Maharashtra), Suresh Kumar Jain (Chennai) and Lalit Kumar (Delhi).
Basant Kumar, the SHO of Faridabad cyber police station, said the accused tracked down the export-import code of big companies and using that, they checked the coupons allotted to the firm. Police are still investigating how the gang found this code.
After this, they prepared fake documents in the name of Shahi Exports and recorded a video — impersonating Ahuja — to get a DSC licence from the government.
A video of the company’s leadership displaying one’s identity proof is normally needed for verification to avail the DSC licence.
“Manish impersonated Harish Ahuja and recorded a video to get the DSC,” said SHO Basant, adding that after getting the licence, the gang transferred 154 discount coupons from Shahi Exports to Black Curve Corporation.
Two other accused — Bhushan and Rahul — registered the fake company in the name of Ganesh, an auto driver by profession, police said. Praveen was responsible for the forged documents and Lalit is named as a chartered accountant of Black Curve Corporation.
Although it was an intricate scam, the gang could not cash in the coupons as Shahi Exports raised the matter with the police early on after the fraud, prompting the authorities to block its account.
Krishan Dutt Vasisht, assistant general manager (legal) of Shahi Exports, said, “The matter is under police investigation.”