2 held in money transfer fraud

The Shivaji Nagar police has arrested two people in a money transfer fraud, wherein the accused, who worked for a well-known money transfer service firm, would create fake accounts and withdraw money before the actual customer arrived.

According to police officials, the accused have been identified as Imran Farooq Shaikh (24) and Avadh Aslam Sawad (27). One more accused, a Mumbra resident, is wanted in the case. The police came to know about the fraud when Bhiwandi resident Narendra Podwal (51) filed a complaint, saying money had vanished from his account. Shaikh, who had joined the money transfer firm last year, graduated two years ago. He met the two other accused at the workplace.

Six months after the firm joining Shaikh left and started cheating people by following the scheme the trio had hatched. The two other accused, however, continued working with the organisation.

The police said, “Once Sawad learnt that a customer was sending money to Mumbai, the wanted accused would create a fake ID using the name and code of the person for whom money had been sent and would withdraw the cash before the real customer arrived.”

On June 8 Shaikh withdrew Rs 50,000 after creating a fake ID. When the actual customer arrived two days later to collect the money, he didn’t receive it and the company and he jointly filed a complaint against an unknown person.

Speaking about the scam, sub-inspector Dhanraj Dongre of the Shivaji Nagar police station said, “After we received the complaint, we checked CCTV footage and found Shaikh’s behaviour suspicious. We sent his picture to every office of the company. Two days ago, he arrived to collect cash meant for a customer named Mukhtar Shaikh while using a fake ID. Company officials then identified him and caught hold of him. The officials called us and we took him into custody, He then confessed his crime and revealed the names of his partners. We will soon will find the third accused. The case has been registered under Sections 420 (cheating), 410 (stolen property), 467 (forgery) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of Rs 50) of the Indian Penal Code.”