Navi Mumbai: A 31-year-old senior accountant working at a hotel in Roadpali, Kalamboli node, has filed a cheating case after being duped of Rs 38.3 lakh by a fraudster who impersonated the hotel's owner. The accountant was tricked into transferring the amount from the hotel's bank account to accounts controlled by the scammer.
Incident Details
According to the First Information Report (FIR) lodged by Hitesh Dahiwalikar, the incident occurred on June 2 while he was at work. He received a WhatsApp message from a contact using the name of the hotel owner, Himanshu Agrawal. The message inquired about the balance in the company's bank account, to which Dahiwalikar responded that there was Rs 40.2 lakh.
Subsequently, the impersonator instructed Dahiwalikar to transfer Rs 38.3 lakh to two bank accounts located in Punjab and Gujarat. Since Agrawal often sent WhatsApp messages to Dahiwalikar for transferring money to client accounts, he complied without suspicion.
Discovery of Fraud
The fraud came to light on June 4, when the scammer again messaged Dahiwalikar on WhatsApp, asking him to transfer additional funds to another bank account. At that moment, the actual hotel owner, Himanshu Agrawal, was present in his cabin within the hotel premises. Dahiwalikar grew suspicious and approached Agrawal to confirm the message. Agrawal denied having sent any such instructions.
Realizing he had been deceived, Dahiwalikar immediately reported the matter to the police. An FIR for cheating has been registered against an unidentified accused at the Kalamboli police station. Investigations are underway to trace the fraudster and recover the lost funds.
