Srinagar, Feb 26:
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch Kashmir has registered a formal case against two Srinagar residents for allegedly orchestrating a large-scale fraud involving medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The accused, hailing from the Peerbagh and Sanat Nagar areas of Srinagar, are accused of using the global health crisis to siphon off government funds meant for essential medical goods.
The Modus Operandi: Impersonation and Digital Fraud
According to a statement issued by the Crime Branch, the suspects employed a sophisticated scheme to deceive government departments:
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False Identity: The duo allegedly impersonated delegates of the J&K Ministry and “OSD Supplies” to gain the trust of various institutions.
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Email Spoofing: They reportedly created fake email IDs to misrepresent themselves as the original, genuine medical suppliers.
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Financial Redirection: Through these deceitful means, they induced departments to transfer payments into bank accounts that were fraudulently opened in the names of legitimate suppliers.
Scale of the Scam
The preliminary verification conducted by the EOW has revealed significant financial implications:
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Amount Obtained: The accused successfully and dishonestly obtained ₹27 lakh from a government office.
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Attempted Theft: Investigations revealed they had a planned strategy to fraudulently withdraw an additional ₹2.24 crore from a government medical institution.
Legal Action Initiated
Based on prima facie evidence, the EOW has established offences under several sections of the law:
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Indian Penal Code (IPC): Sections 420 (Cheating), 467 (Forgery of valuable security), 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (Using a forged document as genuine), and 120-B (Criminal conspiracy).
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Information Technology (IT) Act: Section 66-D (Punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resource).
The Crime Branch has taken formal cognizance of the case, and further investigations are currently underway to uncover the full extent of the network and recover the misappropriated funds.
