SP Oswal Online Fraud Case: Vardhman Group Head Recovers Around Rs 5 Crore as Police Freeze Fraudsters Account

The Vardhman Group chairman and managing director, SP Oswal, who was earlier duped to transfer Rs 7 crore, has recovered nearly Rs 5 crore after the Ludhiana police has freezed the accounts of fraudsters. Additionally, the police arrested two people from Assam linked to the money laundering case and identified seven others spread across West Bengal and Delhi. 

Earlier in August, the 82-year-old industrialist was defrauded, wherein the fraudsters convinced him that he was involved in a money laundering case and ended up transferring Rs 7 crore into multiple bank accounts. Moreover, the fraudsters impersonated Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and held a fake Supreme Court hearing via Skype. Oswal was put under “digital arrest” on August 28 and 29. The fraudsters pretended to be an official and told Oswal that there was an account in his name in Canara Bank and some financial irregularities had been carried out in its transactions. 

“I pressed 9 and the call ended. However, after some hours, I received a call from one Vijay Khanna, who introduced himself as a CBI officer. He informed me that my involvement was suspected in the money-laundering case registered against Naresh Goyal (the Jet Airways founder arrested by the ED in money laundering case last year) and an investigation would follow. Thereafter they sent me some documents with the insignia of Mumbai Police,” said Oswal in his police statement. 

Another recent case was registered in Kochi last week, where around Rs 1.9 crore was duped in cyber fraud from 10 residents in a single day. In one case, a 73-year-old was contacted by a person claiming to be an employee of an e-commerce platform, and the man was told he would gain high profits by investing in the platform. 

While the case has gathered national attention, it has shed light on increasing numbers of online frauds in India. The annual report titled ‘Crime in India’ by the National Crime Records Bureau revealed that the country saw a rise of 24.4 per cent in cybercrimes registered in 2022, compared to 2021. A significant surge in cases from 52,974 in 2021 to 65,893 in 2022 was recorded in the online crime category. The report showed that during 2022 nearly 64.8 per cent of cybercrime cases registered were for the motive of fraud-- 42,710 out of 65,893 cases. 

The alarming concerns around online financial fraud have come at a time when the world is gearing to observe cyber security awareness month (CSAM) in October.