Online scam: special operation group to contact FBI

JAIPUR: The special operation group (SOG) wing of the Rajasthan police will email US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) regarding the online scam in which Abhishek Joshi and his father Ashok Joshi are allegedly involved. The two were arrested along with three others for embezzling Rs 16 crore and exchanging Rs 1.38 crore illegally from Alwar Urban Cooperative Bank earlier this week.
Investigations into the Rs 16 crore embezzlement case had revealed that the two — Abhishek Joshi (36) and Ashok Joshi (56) — were wanted by federal agencies in the US for allegedly stealing identities of people, including that of TV actresses, and making fake credit cards with them.
“During preliminary investigations, the duo had confessed that they were part of this cheating racket that originated in India. The gang first invited online applications from all 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 on 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,” said Dinesh M N, inspector general of police, SOG, on Saturday.
Dinesh added that the SOG would also scan all the documents of one Sangamitra Bank in Mumbai in which Abhishek, the mastermind in the Rs 16-crore fraud, was the chairman. “Our team will soon visit Mumbai and check the accounts and other transactions of the bank,” he said.
On Wednesday, the SOG had solved the mystery behind the seizure of Rs 1.34 crore that belonged to Alwar Urban Cooperative Bank and arrested five persons for embezzling Rs 16 crore and exchanging money worth over Rs 1 lakh illegally from the bank. The arrested include Abhishek Joshi (37), the mastermind; Om Prakash Saini (55), former chairman; Mahesh Mudgal (56), present chairman; Mridul Joshi (34), Abhishek’s brother, and Ashok Joshi (58), bank director and father of Abhishek.