Bank employee, couple arrested for cheating elderly woman of Rs 3.5 crore

BENGALURU: The Banashankari police have arrested three people, including a bank employee, for cheating an aged woman of Rs 3.5 crore.

The victim Shanta was a resident of Banashankari and had lost her husband recently. Her acquaintances Arundathi and husband Rakesh convinced her to sell her house citing her husband’s death as an ill omen and even arranged for a broker and a buyer.

After the money was deposited in her bank account, Apoorva Yadav, a bank employee, got in touch with Arundathi and Rakesh and got them to bring Shanta to the bank to sign on some blank papers. She also took a few signed cheques on the pretext of opening fixed deposits.

The arrested couple Rakesh and Arundathi; (right) the victim Shanta.

Apoorva Yadav, an MBA graduate, later transferred some of the money to her mother Vishala’s bank account and to some other accounts. When Shanta came to know that she had been cheated, she lodged a complaint with the Banashankari police who arrested the accused.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Krishnakant said, “The victim had sold her house and the money was deposited in her account. On noticing such a huge sum of money and after checking her background, Apoorva Yadav got into touch with the couple who are known to the victim. She got them to bring Shanta to the bank and got her signatures and transferred the money to different accounts”.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Krishnakant said they have been able to trace about Rs 2.5 crore so far.

The DCP further said Shanta discovered that she had been cheated two months later and then lodged a complaint. “We checked the accounts and first arrested the couple and recovered over Rs 1 crore from them. We also recovered about Rs 50 lakh from the bank employee and some more money from her mother. Apoorva Yadav’s relative, who runs a resort in Shivamogga, is also part of the crime and Rs 45-50 lakh was recovered from him”.

“Arundathi and her husband Rakesh have repaid loans of about Rs 50 lakh which we are in the process of recovering from the bank and so far, we have been able to recover about Rs 2.5 crore. We are making efforts to recover the full amount and we are questioning other bank employees who have closed their loans recently.

Shanta’s daughter had recently returned from the US and their only means of livelihood was the income from the sale of the house. Further investigation is under way, the DCP added.