The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a chargesheet against a Siliguri-based trust and its manager for allegedly swindling a 78-year-old retired Delhi banker out of Rs 23 crore in one of the biggest digital arrest cases in the country.
Sources in the agency said the victim, Naresch Malhotra, was kept confined to his home for more than a month under digital arrest last year and was allowed to go out only to withdraw money from banks to give it to the frauds who posed as CBI and ED officers. The accused manager, identified as Sagnik Roy, was arrested in February by Delhi Police before the case was transferred to the CBI by the Supreme Court.
FCRF Returns With CDPO, Its Premier Data Protection Certification for Privacy Professionals
Victim Coerced Over Six Weeks via WhatsApp
On August 1, 2025, the victim received a call from a person claiming to be from a mobile connection company. The caller told Malhotra that his Aadhaar card had been used in Mumbai to obtain a mobile number allegedly linked to terror funding cases. The call was then diverted to people posing as Mumbai police officers, who insisted on speaking over WhatsApp. Over the course of six weeks, they coerced Malhotra into coughing up Rs 22.92 crore “to walk free in the case”.
The victim was warned by scammers against revealing the matter to anyone, even his family members, and if he did, they would be counted as co-accused and put behind bars. They even sent him forged Reserve Bank of India certificates after each transfer, claiming the money would be returned and that a nodal officer from the RBI would contact him, said the CBI officer.
Such tactics exploit trust in institutions, using official-looking forgeries to create urgency and silence victims through threats of arrest or family involvement.
Fake Notices Impersonated Law Agencies
The senior citizen had been defrauded of close to Rs 23 crore through intimidation, fake notices and impersonation of law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities over video calls, the CBI said in a statement.
The agency also found that the same bank account was used in at least two other cyber fraud cases registered at separate locations in India. “This account was used to receive proceeds of crime, which were subsequently siphoned off through a network of mule accounts,” the CBI said.
Mule accounts form the backbone of these operations, layering transactions to obscure trails and complicate recovery efforts by investigators.
Trust Received Laundered Funds
A chargesheet has been filed against Roy and his company, Securing World Social and Economic Development Council, which had allegedly received the retired banker’s stolen funds, said a CBI official. During the course of the investigation, it was found that Roy and his company’s current bank account were used to receive the money from Malhotra, a resident of Delhi’s upscale Gulmohar Park.
These cases underscore how fraud networks infiltrate seemingly legitimate entities to launder gains, prompting agencies like the CBI to trace financial flows across multiple jurisdictions.
About the author – Rehan Khan is a law student and legal journalist with a keen interest in cybercrime, digital fraud, and emerging technology laws. He writes on the intersection of law, cybersecurity, and online safety, focusing on developments that impact individuals and institutions in India.
