Couple defraud helpful hospital employee

Allegedly misused her bank account after claiming they didn't have money to pay their bills

Playing the Good Samaritan can prove costly. 40-year-old Asha Devi, an employee of Jaipur Golden Hospital in west Delhi learnt this the hard way.


Representative pic

On June 19, while on duty, she received an accident case. A woman named Monika Sharma was admitted with serious injuries; her husband Jatin Khanna was by her side. In the next few days, Asha became friendly with the couple. Finally, Monika recovered and the day came when she was to be discharged. But the couple said they had no money to pay the hospital bills.

They pleaded with Asha to help them and she gave them her debit card. After a while, the duo gave Asha her card back saying she didn't have enough balance in her account.

"They asked for my account number and debit card saying they didn't have any bank account in the city and they have to get money from their relatives. I gave them the card and account number. After paying their bill they said that I don't have much balance in my account. I agreed and said that I am not financially sound," said Asha.

The couple then told Asha that they dealt in loans at cheap interest rates. And they allegedly lured her into applying.

"They told me that they will arrange a loan at a cheap interest, but for that I must show heavy transactions from my account to maintain a good profile. But I told them that I don't have enough money. They then told me that they will arrange the transactions and for this they will use my account and debit card. I had faith in them and I handed my debit card over to them," Asha added.

But Asha's blind faith cost her dear. She was regularly checking her account, and in October she saw heavy transactions of lakhs of rupees in the bank statement. Scared that something was amiss, Asha complained about the incident to the police and blocked her account. But when Jatin got to know this, he allegedly reached her house and manhandled her brother.

"Jatin came in a Honda City and started abusing my brother and thrashed him. The neighbours intervened and he fled. Later, three people came to my house saying that they have been cheated through my account. I complained to the cops about the incident," Asha added.

The police appear befuddled by the case. "We have received a complaint and we are investigating the case. We will lodge an FIR only after the primary investigation as the case is very confusing," said a police officer.