The Delhi Police has arrested a man for allegedly duping a Dubai-based company to the tune of Rs 36 crores by posing as an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, officials said on Thursday. To give an impression that he played an important role in government's policy-making, the accused Piyush Bandhopadhyay held business meetings in five-star hotels, arrive in a beacon-fitted vehicle and mention names of higher officials while highlighting the recent initiatives of the central dispensation, police said.
The accused kept changing his residence and told his landlord that he was an IFS officer. However, he was finally arrested from his rented accommodation in Noida by a team of Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police, they said.
The Dubai-based company has two directors. Both are from Gujarat, but one of them is an NRI settled in Kenya, police said. Joint Commissioner of Police (EOW) Dr O.P Mishra said a probe was initiated against Bandhopadhyay after they received a complaint from the representative of SRM Mahadeo Smart Bio Toilet Pvt. Ltd in this regard. In the police complaint, the company alleged they met Shweta Sorout, wife of Bandhopadhyay through a common friend. She introduced herself as the Indian head of Intellectual Innovation Think Tank (IITT) engaged in selling patent technology to government and NGOs across the world.
The company further alleged that Sorout also projected that her company is involved in providing government/non-government contracts and claimed that her husband, who is an IFS officer posted in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). She also arranged a meeting of the representatives of SRM Mahadeo Smart Bio Toilet Pvt. Ltd. with her husband at a prominent hotel in Delhi.
"During investigation, we got to know that Bandhopadhyay posed as an IFS officer working in the PMO by producing fake visiting card purportedly carrying his fake designations and degrees. During his meeting with the representatives of the company, he told them that all projects related to 'Make-in-India', 'Smart City' and Solar Energy among several others were looked after by him," the senior officer said.
The officer added that the accused claimed he could get any proposal of the company passed by government and to convince them about his genuine credentials, he also produced forged documents purportedly issued by government. "On the basis of the false representations by Bandhopadhyay and his wife, SRM Mahadeo Smart Bio Toilet Pvt. Ltd. convinced the directors of Mitsumi Disributors, a Dubai-based company to purchase the patent technology from IITT. "As per their mutual discussion, an initial amount of $3.1 million was transferred by Mitsumi Distributors through SRM Mahadeo Smart Bio Toilet Pvt. Ltd to the account of IITT," Mishra said.
Later, another huge amount was also transferred by the Directors of Mitsumi Distributors to the account of IITT. This way, the total amount transferred to IITT turned out to be Rs 36 crores, he said. The beacon-fitted car used by Bandhopadhyay for meeting his clients has been recovered and the papers of property procured by the accused through the cheated amount has also been seized, police said, adding that further investigation regarding the role of various other stakeholders and people is in progress.
They said two more complaints have also been filed before the central investigating agency regarding this matter.
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