Man cheated of Rs 28 lakh by fraudsters posing as Japanese firm trying to procure rare mineral in Pune:

Pune: A 39-year-old man in the city was cheated of Rs 28 lakh by fraudsters posing as research executives from a Japanese company on the pretext of attempting to procure a rare mineral.

An FIR in this case was registered Tuesday by the complainant, who works for a private company in a senior managerial position.

He was approached by the online fraudsters in the first week of June and persuaded to transfer Rs 28 lakh in multiple transactions to accounts in Indian banks till the third week of June, police said. He recently approached the Cyber Crime Cell of Pimpri-Chinchwad Police, after which an FIR was registered at Pimpri police station under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to impersonation and cheating, among others, and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.

According to his statement, the complainant was approached on a social media platform by a man posing as ‘Director of



Discovery and Research’ of a prominent company based in Osaka, Japan. In subsequent communications, the complainant was told that the Japanese firm was trying to procure a rare mineral from an Indian company in Shillong in Meghalaya. The complainant was asked to be the mediator and promised a seven per cent commission on the $45 million deal. The complainant was even sent an MoU to sign after he agreed to the offer, police said.

Over the following days, the complainant transferred large sums of money on the pretext of purchase of material and other formalities pertaining to the procurement of the mineral. He transferred Rs 28 lakh to at least five bank accounts in multiple transactions. But towards the end of June, the man posing as the “Japanese executive” broke off contact with the complainant, police said.

When repeated attempts to reestablish contact failed, the complainant realised he had been cheated and approached the police.