The Cyber Crime Police have arrested two more individuals, Rakesh Patil and Sachin Patil, involved in a digital scam that defrauded a 68-year-old woman of Rs1 crore. The arrests bring the total number of accused in this case to seven. Both Rakesh and Sachin, residents of Raigad, Maharashtra, were taken into custody on February 26, 2025, following an investigation that linked them to a hawala network and mule bank accounts used for transferring the stolen funds.
Earlier, police had already apprehended Rahul Mishra from Uttar Pradesh and other accused, including Visakh R, Muhammadshan, Yaramala Venkateswarlu, and Roshan Shaikh, from different parts of the country. The scammers had impersonated Delhi Crime Branch police officers and falsely informed the victim, Bernadette Fernandes, about a police complaint. They sent fake documents purporting to be from the Supreme Court of India, coercing her to deposit Rs1 crore into multiple bank accounts.
During their interrogation, Rakesh and Sachin confessed to their involvement with Rahul Mishra and their role in operating mule accounts to facilitate the illegal transfer of funds. In addition to freezing Rs40 lakh, authorities have seized multiple devices, including eight mobile phones, a laptop, and two hard drives.
Cyber Crime Police have issued a public warning against such scams, urging citizens to remain cautious of fraudulent calls from people impersonating law enforcement officials or the Enforcement Directorate.
