NEW DELHI: Delhi Police have busted a pan-India cheating racket that allegedly duped the chief operating officer of a central Delhi-based company of Rs. 69 lakh on the pretext of high returns from a corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund investment, officials said on Friday.
One accused, identified as Jitender Pandey (32), a resident of Meera Road in Mumbai, was arrested from Ahmedabad after sustained operations over 15 days, police said. The alleged proceeds of crime amounting to Rs. 69 lakh have been recovered and seized.
According to police, the victim was induced with a promise of unusually high returns if the company “parked” money in a purported CSR investment scheme. Believing the claim, the COO transferred the funds in phases to accounts controlled by the syndicate. When returns did not materialise and contact persons began evading calls, a complaint was filed with the Delhi Police, which led to the registration of a case and the launch of a multi-state probe.
Investigators said Pandey played the role of a cash courier in the network. He is also linked to other cheating cases, including one in Mumbai where a doctor was allegedly defrauded of Rs. 3 crore, officials said. “Pandey used to transport cash on the directions of the alleged mastermind, Monish Badani, and received Rs. 8.7 lakh as his cut,” an officer said.
Police teams traced money trails through multiple bank accounts and payment layers allegedly created to obfuscate the origin of funds. Call detail records, beneficiary accounts, and travel footprints were examined to zero in on the suspect’s movements, officials added. Acting on specific inputs, a team tracked Pandey to Ahmedabad and apprehended him without incident.
“The modus operandi relied on the veneer of CSR—an area where corporates routinely spend and interact with third parties—making the pitch appear legitimate,” an officer said, cautioning companies against unsolicited proposals promising guaranteed returns from compliance-linked spending.
Police said efforts are on to locate Badani and identify other members of the network, including account holders and facilitators who allegedly helped layer and withdraw funds. Further arrests are likely, officials said. The seized amount will be produced before the court as case property, and custodial interrogation of the accused is being sought to unravel the broader conspiracy, they added.
Authorities urged corporate executives to verify credentials, insist on written agreements, and route any CSR-related disbursals only through authorised, audited channels. “Red flags include pressure for quick transfers, promises of fixed or abnormally high returns, and requests to split payments across multiple accounts,” a senior officer said.
(India CSR)
