4 forex frauds booked for duping businessman of Rs 5 lakh

PUNE: The Hadapsar police on Wednesday booked four people, including a woman, for duping a businessman of Rs 5 lakh on the pretext of exchanging US dollars for Indian rupees at a cheap rate.

The incident took place near

Vaibhav Talkies

at around 9 pm on February 4. The suspects had handed over a

packet to the businessman

, claiming that it contained a bundle of US dollars. However, on opening the bundle, the businessman found only a bar of soap.

Earlier that day, at 10.30 am, Sunny Agarwal, a 28-year-old businessman from

Vimannagar

, got a call from his friend, who was seeking to exchange US dollars for Indian rupees at a rate lower than the market rate that day. The friend said he needed the money to pay for his sister’s education in London.

Agarwal, who runs a wholesale grocery shop at Undri and an oil distribution agency, consulted his father and took Rs 2 lakh from him. He also collected an additional Rs 3 lakh from the shop. Agarwal, his father, his sister and the friend reached Vaibhav Talkies at 9 pm. A man approached them and said that he had exchanged dollars for Indian currency worth Rs 4 lakh. The friend then asked Agarwal to accompany him to a lane for a meeting with the suspects. Agarwal’s father and sister waited in the car.

Inside the lane, a 25-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman showed Agarwal and his friend a $20 note. According to the police, Agarwal’s friend and the woman walked out of the lane, and Agarwal then handed over a bag with Rs 5 lakh in it to the man. In exchange, he collected another bag. The businessman then walked out of the lane and sat in the car. However, when he opened the bag, he found a bundle, inside which was a bar of soap. Agarwal rushed back to the lane, but the cheats had left by then, said the police.

“The fraud came to light after the businessman lodged an FIR against the four,” said Hadapsar police’s senior inspector

Vishnu Pawar

. “We hope to make arrests soon,” he said.