Crooks pose as Nashik cops, cheat woman of Rs43 lakh with ‘money laundering case’ arrest threat

Pune:Online fraudsters posed as officials of the Nashik city police and cheated a 68-year-old woman of Rs43 lakh between April 8 and 15 after threatening to arrest her in a money laundering case.The woman had tendered a complaint application to the Pune cyberpolice. After verification, a formal FIR was registered at the Sahakarnagar police station on Monday.Senior inspector Vitthal Pawar of the Sahakarnagar police said, "We are yet to record a detailed statement of the woman. We have requested her to visit the police station."Senior inspector Swapnali Shinde said, "The woman's husband is bedridden. She looks after his banking matters. Their two sons work in different companies in the city. She did not reveal anything about the fraudsters' threat calls to her family members and exhausted all the savings."According to the police, fraudsters dropped names of prominent IPS officers to threaten the woman over video calls. The suspects claimed that her bank account and Aadhaar card were used in several money laundering cases. They said the police raided a public sector bank and studied all bank accounts there. They said her account was found in the money trail.The police said the fraudsters claimed that they had established her role in these money laundering cases. Following this, they sent a bogus arrest warrant of a Nashik court to her and kept on threatening to arrest her. They told her to cooperate with the investigation and share details of her bank accounts. The woman allegedly followed their order."The fraudsters kept the woman under tremendous pressure of arrest and further legal issues. The suspects later promised to settle the matter against some money. The woman transferred Rs43 lakh to six different bank accounts of frauds to skirt arrest and exhausted all her savings," the police said."When the fraudsters demanded Rs6 lakh more, the woman shared her ordeal with her niece. The latter immediately realised that her aunt was cheated," the police said.
Get real-time updates and result insights on the UP Board Result 2026 and Assam HS Class 12th Result 2026.