A 79-year-old former member of parliament from Bihar is suspected of installing multiple payment applications without permission and misusing personal information to embezzle money from his account, prompting an investigation to be launched against two of his attendants. The Delhi Police was approached.
Police said the suspects also received money from farmers who worked on the leader’s land on a lease basis. The victim, Dharmesh Prasad Verma, is a Samajwadi Party leader and former MP and MLA. Police said a case has been registered in New Delhi.
Mr. Verma accused the attendees of misusing his Congress card. He said the men helped him maintain his accounts but later embezzled his money.
A case was registered in the matter on December 22 and the suspects are being traced. According to police, the suspects are in their early 20s. “They have been working with the minister’s family for years. Because the complainant is very old, he was dependent on others to run his business and manage his accounts. The suspect did not provide personal bank account details. Within a few months, they succeeded in stealing Rs 35 million from him,” the officer said.
Investigation revealed that the suspect was using multiple applications such as Paytm, GPay, MobiKwik and Cred Club on different mobile phones. All apps were connected to her Verma’s Parliament Annex account. “In February, Verma came to know that he had lost around Rs 18,000 to Rs 20,000 as someone had used his credit card without his permission. Later, Verma visited Delhi and a State Bank of India employee When we met him, we found that several such transactions had taken place. Also, his bank account was linked to his Paytm account,” the officer added.
Police investigations revealed that Verma often rented out parts of his farm to farm workers and farmers for cultivation. For this, he charged them an amount that was collected weekly or monthly.
“The defendants also interfered with this business and defrauded farmers by taking money from them and falsifying accounts to extort more money. We are currently investigating payment applications, fraudulent use of credit cards, We are conducting a thorough investigation into other scams,” a senior police official said.
© Indian Express Private Limited
Date first uploaded: Dec 31, 2023 23:23 IST