Bengaluru: Two fraudsters working for an outsourced unit of JP Morgan Bank in the city have been arrested by the Maratahalli police for cheating a foreign client of Rs 12.15 crore.
The accused working at the backend in Marathahalli transferred the money to their accounts, instead of depositing it into an account in the US. The accused, Maruthi alias Ramachandappa (22), a resident of Doddagubbi, and Suresh Babu (28) of Kolar district, were working at the unit for three years.
Suresh Babu
On August 24, a US client deposited the amount, which was directed through the Maratahalli unit. Seeing an opportunity, Maruthi and Suresh transferred the amount to their respective accounts.
After working for 15 more days, scared that their fraud would be exposed. From the swindled money, they bought plots in Kothanur, 3 acres of land in Doddaballapur and gold jewllery weighing 470 gm, and started living a lavish life.
The client realised that the money had not been deposited into his account only in October first week and filed a complaint with the bank in the US. The management contacted the unit chief in Bengaluru, who found out that Maruthi and Suresh had swindled the money and filed a complaint at the Maratahalli police station.
The police found it difficult to trace the duo as they had changed their mobile numbers. The police examined the call details of Suresh's old mobile and found a number that had appeared multiple times. The cops called up the number which belonged to Suresh's relative. They got Suresh's active mobile number and made the first arrest. “Suresh named Maruthi as the mastermind," the police said.
Maruthi went to Chennai
The cops learnt that Maruthi was hiding in Chennai. They asked Suresh to call up Maruthi, pleading that he has to move to Chennai as he feared arrest. When Maruthi agreed, a police team took Suresh to Chennai in a jeep.
Maruthi sensed something fishy and called up Suresh, asking him if he was alone and enquired how he was travelling. When Suresh said he was in a bus, Maruthi asked him the cost of the ticket, and Suresh replied '570. When they reached Chennai, the cops asked Suresh to call Maruthi and inform him that he was coming in an auto. Maruthi again sensed something was wrong and asked Suresh to hand over the mobile to the auto driver. One of the police officials posing as the auto driver spoke to him in Tamil and asked about the drop point. Maruthi asked Suresh to come near Marina Beach where he was picked up, the police said. The Marathahalli police seized the property documents 470 gm of gold and 4 kg of silver ornaments and cash, the police said.
Fake certificates
The police found that Maruthi dropped out of school after ninth standard and used the college certificate of one of his distant relatives, Ramchandappa, to get the job.
