Suitor from Scotland’ dupes Chembur resident of 19 lakh

Accused Puts Up Fake Profile On Matrimonial Website

S Ahmed Ali TNN

Mumbai: A Chembur resident looking for the perfect match wasleft poorer by Rs19 lakhin a scam in which the accused duped her by putting up a fake profileon a matrimonialwebsite.
    On Monday,thecyber cellof the police arrested Mira Road resident Prem Kantilal Kalani (42) for his alleged involvement in the crime. He, along with Ashwin Choudhary, Anil Sharma and Pramod Yadav—who were arrested last week—are suspectedtobethe main beneficiaries.The policesaidthecomplainant in the case is a woman in her late-30s who runs a gas agency in Mumbai. Having been a widow for the past four years, she decided to remarry and put up her profile on a matrimonialwebsite.
    In January,she got a proposal from a person who called himself Alex Ivak alias Olrik. The two exchanged their email IDs and started chatting with each other. Alex claimed to be working as an engineer on an oil rig in Scotland. “The two became quite friendly. Alex said he had a seven-year agreement with the company, of which he had already completed five. He assuredher thathewouldcome to India after another two years,” said Nandkumar More, senior inspector. Alex also promised that he would take a short leave in May and come to India to get married.
    However, around mid-March, Alex told the woman that he would not be able to cometoIndia in the near future due to some problems in Scotland.Hesaid a mistakecommitted by him triggered an oil spill atthe rig;hiscompany incurred huge losses due to this. “Alex also told her that until he cleared the spillage, the environment department of Scotland would not allow him to withdraw his savingsor go anywhere.Hethen asked her for financial help. Alex said if she could lend him Rs14lakh,hewould returndouble that amount later. The complainant believed him and deposited the money in two bank accounts through RTGS (Real-Time Gross Settlement) in two installments,” said an officer.
    Alex did not chat with her for a while after that. Then, one day, he resurfaced and told her that while he had resolved the problem, the “oil board of the United Kingdom” had sent him anotice asking him to pay a hefty fine that amounted to Rs 5.5 lakh in Indian currency. His passport would not be released until he paid up, Alex claimed, requesting for more financial help. “Hoping to marry him soon, the woman deposited Rs 5.5 lakh in another account. However, she soon realized that something was wrong and filed a complaint. During the probe, we found that the three accounts belonged to residents of Goregaon, Malad and Mira Road,” theofficer said.
    The cops were trying to tracetheIP addressfrom where the fake profile had been created. They are welso trying to ascertain if thiswas a newformof theNigerian emailfraud.
    The police suspected that the accused cheated other people using similar means. They also learnt that Kalani got Rs 5 lakhof thetotalRs19 lakh.

1. Seeking to remarry, a widow in her late-30s creates a profile on a matrimonial website. A man who identifies himself as Alex Ivak gets in touch with her and they start chatting 2. Alex promises to marry her but later claims that he is embroiled in a problem in Scotland and needs money. The woman agrees to pay and transfers Rs 14 lakh to him 3. After some time, Alex asks for Rs 5 lakh. She pays this amount, too, but then smells a rat. She files a complaint and the police arrest four persons in Mumbai for allegedly duping her of Rs 19 lakh