The 53-year-old victim, a resident of Mumbra in Maharashtra's Thane city, lodged a police complaint on Sunday in connection with the alleged fraud that occurred between 2018 and 2019
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Police have registered a case against three owners of a travel agency in Thane for allegedly cheating a man of Rs 20 lakh by failing to arrange a promised Hajj pilgrimage for his family, officials said on Tuesday, reported news agency PTI.
The 53-year-old victim, a resident of Mumbra in Maharashtra's Thane city, lodged a police complaint on Sunday in connection with the alleged fraud that occurred between 2018 and 2019, they said, reported PTI.
The reason for the delay in filing the complaint was not specified.
The accused operated the travel agency at Amrut Nagar in Mumbra.
"The victim had booked a Hajj pilgrimage for himself and his family with the travel agency of the accused and paid them Rs 20,15,000. The accused neither arranged for the trip nor refunded the money," an official from Mumbra police station said, reported PTI.
Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered on Sunday against the three accused under various Indian Penal Code sections, including 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), the official said.
Cyber police unearth Rs 75.48 crore GST fraud; probe underway
In another case, the Thane cyber police have registered a case against a Mumbai resident and his associates for allegedly committing a Rs 75.48 crore GST fraud by misusing the credentials of a laptop sales service professional, officials said on Monday, reported PTI.
The alleged fraud was committed between November 2024 and April this year, an official said.
The 33-year-old laptop sales professional, in his police complaint filed on October 31, alleged that the accused gained his and his friend's trust and misused their user IDs and passwords for online GST filing, reported PTI.
They then submitted fake bills in the name of several shell (fake) companies against the GST numbers of the victims. This fraudulent activity created a false transaction volume of Rs 75,48,42,087, thereby defrauding the complainant, his friend and the government exchequer, the official said, reported PTI.
Based on the complaint, the police registered a case against the accused, a resident of Andheri in Mumbai, and his unidentified associates on charges of cheating, forgery and other offences, he said.
"This appears to be a sophisticated cyber and financial crime involving the misuse of confidential online credentials to file fraudulent GST claims. We are tracing the digital footprint and the financial trail of the shell companies," a cyber police official said, reported PTI.
(With inputs from PTI)
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