Duo robs techie of Rs 15L in cryptocurrency fraud

Chennai

Among the accused, Ramesh Reddy of Bengaluru is said to be a distributor of ayurvedic medicine, and Prabakaran a real estate broker from Tirupur. The victim, Mohan (42) of Adyar, is working at a software firm.

Police said Ramesh Reddy was approached by one Naresh a few months ago saying he has virtual money worth Rs 33 crore in dollars and is willing to give Ramesh 50 per cent share if he can find someone to trade and convert it into Indian currency.

Ramesh sought Prabakaran’s help and the duo met the victim, Mohan, through a common friend. After persuading him to open an account on the cryptocurrency e-wallets (websites) such as Swift Global Pay and Insta Merchant Pay on the promise of one per cent commission (Rs 33 lakh).

Later, Ramesh Reddy transferred virtual money worth Rs 2 crore to Mohan’s account from which the latter tried to transfer the money to his friend’s bank account. However, since the money did not get credited in his friend’s account as he expected.

But Ramesh Reddy and Prabakaran did not believe Mohan and suspected that he was trying to take away all the money.

While all these happened in July, the accused duo went to Mohan’s hometown in Marthandam on August 10 and threatened him inside a car claiming they have transferred all the virtual money to him and asked him to part with Rs 50 lakh immediately. “They brought him to Chennai in the same car and stayed in his house for two days,” said police.

Later, they shifted to a lodge in T Nagar and due to their persistent threats, Mohan transferred Rs 10 lakh and handed over Rs 5.50 lakh in cash. However, after they continued with threats, Mohan approached the cyber cell of Adyar district police.

After investigation, police secured the duo from the lodge in T Nagar. They were handed over to Tiruvanmiyur police who remanded them in judicial custody on Tuesday.