CBI arrests three people for extorting money from Mumbai businesswoman

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested three people for allegedly threatening and extorting money from a Mumbai-based businesswoman.

One person allegedly impostered himself as a CBI officer to extort money from the victim, CBI said.

A case was registered on a complaint against two accused and other unknown persons under relevant sections of IPC and the IT Act.

The complainant alleged that she was being threatened by some CBI officers in the name of making adverse report in an enquiry being conducted by CBI in which another Law Enforcement Agency had already finalised its report, an official release said.

"For the said purpose, the imposters were calling the businesswoman and sending Whatsapp messages using mobile numbers registered in fake names and addresses. It was revealed during verification that one of the suspects was posing himself as Special Investigation Officer, Sr. SP of CBI, ACB, New Delhi and the other as his subordinate CBI officer," it said.

The victim also received an email from the fake CBI email ID wherein she was asked to produce documents related to her firm and other personal details to CBI.

During later conversations, the imposters allegedly asked her to pay Rs 10 lakh, the amount was reduced to Rs 5 lakh.

The fraudsters were identified to be based out of Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh and Bangalore. It was also alleged that the imposters were receiving directions from a person based out of Bengaluru who used to participate in the conversations between the victim and the imposters through conference calls.

CBI has apprehended the two accused at Mumbai Airport when they arrived in the city for collecting Rs 5 lakh from the victim.

During the investigation, it was revealed that the emails were spoofed by an accused based at Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh), who was also arrested.

The arrested persons will be produced before the jurisdictional court. Further investigation is in progress.