Abhishek, father involved in identity theft case, confirms FBI

JAIPUR: The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed that Abhishek Joshi (36) and his father Ashok Joshi (56), arrested earlier in the Alwar cooperative bank scam, were also wanted in the multi-million identity theft case.The special operations group (SOG) of the Rajasthan police received emails to the effect following an inquiry last week.Abhishek and Ashok were arrested along with three others in the Alwar bank scam, involving an alleged embezzlement of Rs 16 crore and illegal money exchange of Rs 1.38 crore, on December 21.“During our investigation and interrogation of Abhishek and his father, who are the kingpins in this embezzlement case, it was found that both of them were also involved in a multi-million identity fraud case and wanted by the FBI. We had emailed FBI and on Wednesday we got a response from them,” said a senior officer of SOG on the condition of anonymity.“In that case, FBI had already arrested four people and the arrest of these two was pending. According to FBI, both have been chargesheeted by them in the concerned court,” the officer said.About the case, SOG officer said, “The gang first invited online applications from around the world for various jobs in a company called ‘Deutche Group’ created by them. Later, aspirants were asked to attach their identity cards with their applications. They used this information to apply for credit cards and cheat the applicants. We will check with the FBI about the gravity of the crime and the exact role played by the duo in the scam which took place in June 2016. Some American newspaper had reported that both Abhishek and Ashok were yet to be arrested.”On December 21, the SOG had had arrested five persons for embezzling Rs 16 crore and exchanging money worth over Rs 1 lakh illegally from the Alwar bank. Other than Abhishek and Ashok Joshi, Om Prakash Saini (55), Mahesh Mudgal (56) and Mridul Joshi (34), Abhishek's brother, were arrested in the case.Box: One more arrested in Alwar bank caseOn Thursday, the SOG arrested Ashish Gupta, a chartered accountant, in connection with the Rs 16-crore Alwar embezzlement case. Bowing to the pressure from sleuths of SOG, the accused surrendered before them.