The sender claiming to be Ghani sought the complainant’s help in investing money on her behalf in India and also sent a copy of her passport, a recent photo, and a receipt of $22 million (equivalent to Rs 180 crore) asking victim to transfer it into his bank account and that 25% of it would be his commission

New Delhi, April 10

A phishing fraud in the name of former Afghanistan president's wife led to a lose of Rs. five lakhs. 

As per the case details, accused posed as Rula Ghani, the wife of the ex-president of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani, and under the pretext of seeking the accountant’s help in making huge investments in the Indian market, defrauded him of lakhs.

On February 18, the victim, a 71-year-old man accountant first received an email from ‘[email protected]’ and the email sender identified herself as Rula Ghani.

The sender claiming to be Ghani sought the complainant’s help in investing money on her behalf in India. Later, she also sent a copy of her passport, a recent photo, and a receipt of $22 million (equivalent to Rs 180 crore). She told him he should get the money transferred into his bank account and that 25 per cent of it would be his commission. 

The sender further told the complainant he would receive a call from one Alto Belli, who is the executive manager of Permata Bank, Jakarta, Indonesia, for further assistance. On February 28, the complainant received a WhatsApp call from Belli from the number +6283899487594. To transfer money into the complainant’s bank account, Belli told him he needs to first open an account in their bank and asked him to send his documents and a fee of $360.

He sent the documents via email, transferred around Rs 30,000 into a given bank account as a fee, and informed Belli about it. Belli then told him that $22 million had been transferred into his Permata Bank account. When the complainant checked, there was no money deposited in his account, and he informed Belli about the same. 

Belli then told him that to get the money transferred into his account, he needed to convert his overseas bank account to a local account and would also have to pay a conversion fee of Rs 4.79 lakh. The complainant paid the amount, but despite that, he did not get the money transferred into his bank account.

When he told Belli about it, Belli told him that because of the technical issue, the money transfer could not be processed. He told the complainant that he would send the entire amount in cash to his residence via a diplomat. 

Following this, on April 4, an African national arrived at the complainant’s place, handed him over a black bag full of $22 million in cash, and told him to open the lock of the bag only after transferring the Rs 3.20 lakh fee to Belli and then invest the cash in profitable investment schemes.

After the African national left, the complainant and his family members opened the bag just to find bundles of black papers. The complainant then realised he had been defrauded and, after a few days, lodged a police complaint. 

The police have transferred the case to cybercrime cell for a through invstigation.