Fraudsters Con Former MLA of Rs 48.50 Lakh

Tirupati: A former MLA from Chittoor district has become a victim of cyber fraud, losing Rs 48.50 lakh in the process. The incident came to light on Tuesday when the ex-legislator lodged a complaint with the Pakala police station.

According to Pakala in-charge circle inspector (CI) A. Sriramulu, N.R. Jayadeva Naidu, former MLA of Chandragiri, received on July 5 a WhatsApp call from a woman claiming to be a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate a money laundering case.

She then transferred the call to another individual who posed as a senior CBI official. He said the former MLA's name had emerged in a money laundering case in which Jayadeva Naidu will have to be taken into custody. He directed Naidu to transfer money into certain account numbers for verification purposes.

The caller convinced the ex-legislator to transfer money as part of CBI investigations to catch the real culprits. Accordingly, Jayadeva Naidu transferred Rs 48.50 lakh, CI Sriramulu told Deccan Chronicle.

The former MLA realised that he had been cheated after he discussed the matter with his son in America. He then lodged a complaint with Pakala police on Tuesday.

"Had the matter been reported within the golden hour, we could have frozen the fraudsters' accounts more effectively," Inspector Sriramulu stated.

Still, with the intervention of police, bank officials have managed to recover approximately Rs 9 lakh. "We're continuing our investigations to recover the remaining amount and apprehend the culprits," said CI Sriramulu.

He advised people to be cautious of such calls and verify the authenticity of any such claims with official channels before making any financial commitments.