Alzheimer’s patient duped of Rs 2.6 lakh by help working for 15 years

New Delhi: A 70-year-old Alzheimer’s patient was allegedly cheated of nearly Rs 2.6 lakh by a domestic help-cum-driver who had been employed with the family for over 15 years. The accused has been arrested.

The victim, a resident of central Delhi, is a retired official from the Union agriculture ministry. The alleged fraud came to light after his son noticed several suspicious UPI transactions from his father's bank account between April 4 and 15. Suspecting the hand of unknown cyber fraudsters, he lodged a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting portal, following which a case was registered at the central district cyber police station.

However, police soon discovered that the alleged perpetrator was not an outsider, but someone the family had trusted for long. “The team analysed the digital transaction trail, bank account details and beneficiary records connected with the fraudulent UPI transfers," said DCP (central) Rohit Rajbir Singh. "The financial trail of the transactions led the team to the domestic help of the family."

According to police, 39-year-old Devinder, a resident of Mandoli in northeast Delhi, had allegedly been exploiting the victim’s severe short-term memory loss caused by Alzheimer's disease. Investigators found that Devinder would secretly access the man's mobile phone and carry out multiple UPI transactions, transferring money to bank accounts linked to his associates.

The accused thought that the victim’s deteriorating cognitive condition would prevent him from identifying the transactions or raising suspicion, police said. But when Devinder sensed that the transactions could come under scrutiny, he abruptly quit his job and went into hiding, they added.

Based on technical surveillance and local intelligence inputs, police tracked him down and arrested him from GTB Nagar on Friday. He allegedly confessed that he was fully aware of the victim's health condition and had exploited it for financial gain. Police are trying to recover the amount.