New Delhi:
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested a person under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for duping people by posing as an ED and a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) officer.
The accused has been identified as Omveer Singh, the investigating agency said on Thursday.
He was arrested on Wednesday and has been sent into the custody of ED till September 2 by PMLA Court, Ahmedabad.
ED investigation was initiated on the basis of FIRs registered by Ahmedabad Police and Surat Police against Omveer Singh for the commission of offences of impersonation and cheating.
According to ED, Omveer Singh, fraudulently identifying himself as a senior official of the ED, duped one Coal trader to the tune of Rs 1.50 Crore on the pretext of getting his tender work done through his highly placed contact persons.
“In another instance, he defrauded a Surat-based energy sector company for more than Rs 2 Crore by impersonating the Financial Advisor and Auditor at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India,” ED said.
ED investigation revealed that Omveer Singh had meagre sources of income till 2019 from his employment as a construction site supervisor. After that, he started to impersonate senior government officers working in different departments and started to allure various gullible persons on the pretext of getting their work done and thus, defrauded them with crores of rupees.
“His modus operandi involves duping certain persons in a city and later changing his residence and identity to defraud a new set of people. The proceeds of crime acquired from impersonation and cheating were spent on the enjoyment of a lavish lifestyle,” the federal probe agency said.
Further investigation into the matter is under progress.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)