Anwesha Dash, Pune
Shri Paul Oswal, the CEO of Vardhman group was duped of ₹ 7 crore by a group of 9 cyber scammers based around West Bengal and Assam. Police have arrested 2 accused as of now, while operations are active to catch the other 7 members of the gang who are still at large.
As per police reports, the gang approached SP Oswal in the guise of a CBI officer. He threatened the industrialist with arrest warrants which have now been proven to be fake. Oswal was also intimidated by warnings of digital arrest by the gang. As a result, the scammers syphoned ₹ 7 crores from Oswal. The money was withdrawn from numerous bank accounts that belonged to the CEO.
A case has been registered after the industrialist filed a complaint. The police traced the fraud to a gang with 9 members that operates out of Assam and West Bengal. Consequently arrests were made by the forces. As of yet, two accused have been arrested and both of them are based in Guwahati, Assam. They have been identified as Atanoo Chaudhary and Anand Kumar Chaudhary. Meanwhile, authorities have also recovered around ₹ 5 crore from them. Operations are active to catch the other members of the group who are still at large. Police claim that this fraud is a part of interstate scams
Many such cases of fraud with notable industrialists have been reported recently. Last week, Rajnsih Ahuja, a Ludhiana-based industrialist, also became a victim of a similar scam. Posing as CBI officers and airport security, the gang sent fake warrants, court orders and bank statements to Ahuja. Consequently, the industrialist was also duped of ₹ 1 crore after the fraudsters claimed that an extortion amount was transferred to his bank.
No official statements have been given by the CEO or the company to the media. Vardhman Group is one of the largest vertically inverted fabric and textile manufacturers in India. The group has many production facilities across the country. SP Oswal is a well-known industrialist who has also been a part of the Textile Committee founded by the Ministry of Textiles.