Indian Business Mogul Duped in Elaborate Cyber Scam

Indian authorities are probing a sophisticated scam where an 82-year-old businessman was conned out of $830,000 through a fake online court hearing. The scheme involved scammers posing as federal investigators and India’s Chief Justice, convincing the victim to transfer his funds. Two arrests have been made, and $600,000 have been recovered.

Indian police are currently investigating an elaborate scam in which a prominent businessman was swindled out of $830,000 through a fraudulent online hearing purportedly before India's Supreme Court. The businessman was threatened with jail, leading him to transfer the funds.

Despite the rising incidence of digital fraud in India, a police official from the northern state of Punjab said that this case marks the first time someone was deceived with a mock Supreme Court session. The details came to light following the arrest of two individuals based on a complaint by S.P. Oswal, the 82-year-old chairman of the Vardhman Group.

Oswal recounted that fraudsters, posing as federal investigators, implicated him in a fake money laundering case and orchestrated an online court hearing where an individual impersonated India's Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud. He was coerced into transferring his assets to a so-called secret supervision account. According to case documents reviewed by Reuters, the Supreme Court's registrar and Chandrachud's office have yet to respond. The police have managed to recover $600,000, labeling it the largest recovery in such cases to date.

(With inputs from agencies.)