Man arrested from Mumbai for cheating actor Annu Kapoor in cyber fraud

MUMBAI, (PTI): A 28-year-old man has been arrested from Mumbai, almost two months after he allegedly cheated Bollywood actor Annu Kapoor of Rs 4.36 lakh under the pretext of updating his bank KYC details, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, Ashish Paswan, was arrested from suburban Andheri on Monday. He is a native of Darbhanga in Bihar. Paswan earns commission by helping people open bank accounts, an official said.

A special team identified Paswan through technical evidence, his mobile phone number and the details of online transactions. The photograph the accused had submitted while opening his account with the private bank, where Kapoor also has an account, also matched, he added. Police recovered some documents and two mobile phones from Paswan.

The investigation revealed Paswan had called up Kapoor in September posing as an executive working with the main branch of the private bank. Paswan told Kapoor his ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) details were not updated in the bank’s record and if he fails to take immediate action, the account will be suspended. Under the pretext of completing the process, the fraudster managed to get the banking details of the actor and asked him to share the OTP (One-Time Password), as per the First Information Report (FIR).

After a while, Kapoor received a call from the bank’s customer care number informing him his account had been compromised and Rs 4.36 lakh were fraudulently transferred. Shocked, Kapoor rushed to Oshiwara police station and lodged a complaint.

Swift action by the police and the bank’s manager ensured Rs 3.08 lakh of Rs 4.36 lakh transferred into two separate bank accounts were ”debit frozen”, the FIR stated. (PTI)