Rejecting their claims that they were “victims of circumstances” and that they only gave access to their bank accounts to friends who they claimed needed it to save taxes, a Mumbai district court recently rejected the bail applications of six accused, caught in one of the country’s biggest internet scams, in which a 72-year-old trader lost Rs 58 crore.
Last month, Maharashtra Police arrested 21 people for allegedly cheating a trader by claiming to be officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, and he was placed under ‘digital arrest’ in a case.
Among those arrested, the accused Imran Sheikh and Sheikh Shahid Abdul Salam claimed that their accounts were used as mule accounts to transfer the amount, and that they had no knowledge of any criminal activity. While Imran Sheikh, in his bail application, said the account was transferred, withdrawn and handed over to the other accused without any personal gain, Salam also told the court that the money found in his account, Rs 7.07 lakh, belonged to a friend.
Another accused, Abdel Nasser Abdel Karim Khouli, told the court that he had no role in blackmailing the victim and that he only allowed his wife’s account to be used as the accused informed him that they wanted to use his bank account to transfer money so that they could save taxes.
Brothers Arjun and Jetharam Kadvasara told the court that the company whose account was allegedly used to transfer the fraudulent amount did not belong to them, not a single peso was transferred to their accounts, and that they were in fact “victims of circumstances”, falsely implicated in the crime.
The defendant, Naveed Sheikh (22 years old), said in his plea that since the investigation into the case has been completed and the maximum penalty under the articles relied upon in the case is seven years, his additional detention is not required. He also stated that INR 8 million of the alleged amount has been recovered so far.
The police opposed their bail application, citing the huge amount they paid and the possibility of the accused indulging in similar crimes again.
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“The prosecution has alleged that the accused fooled the informant by claiming to be officers of TRAI and CBI.
Prima facie, the record shows that the applicant’s account was used to commit the offence. The informant was cheated of Rs. 58,13,50,000/-. It’s such a huge amount it’s a digital arrest crime. “At present, such types of crimes are increasing,” Additional Chief Justice V R Patel said in an order.
In all the orders, the court added: “The investigation is ongoing. The role of the plaintiff/accused can only be determined after the filing of a charge sheet by the prosecution. As of today, the charge sheet has not been filed. In view of the seriousness of the crime and the stage of investigation, it would not be appropriate to release the accused on bail at this stage.”
(Tags for translation)Digital Arrest
