Prayagraj: Cabinet minister's company accountant duped of Rs 2.08 crore using son's fake WhatsApp account

The cyber fraud posing as UP cabinet minister Nand Gopal Nandi's son asked for crucial financial details from the accountant. He then asked the accountant to make three high-value transactions in three different accounts.

In a surprising incident, an accountant of the firm owned by Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Nand Gopal Gupta alias Nandi was allegedly duped of Rs 2.08 crore by cyber frauds, police said on Saturday. The complainant Ritesh Srivastava on Thursday reached out to the cyber police station against unidentified individuals under Section 319 (2), 318 (4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, they said.

Ritesh works for Icavo Agro Daily Private Limited, a Nandi-owned company, managed by his son Abhishek Gupta. As per the complaint, Srivastava received a WhatsApp message on November 13 from a number displaying Abhishek's profile photo.

The cyber fraud posing as Abhishek claimed that it was a new number and sought sensitive financial information related to a proposed business meeting, the complainant said. Believing the message to be genuine, Srivastava shared the company's account details on that number following the instructions of the company's director, it added.

After he fell into the trap, he was instructed to transfer Rs 68 lakh to a client's account for finalising a business deal, followed by additional transfers of Rs 65 lakh and Rs 75 lakh into two separate accounts, Ritesh said in his complaint.

Later that evening, Srivastava discussed the transactions with Abhishek, who denied sending any such messages. Realising the fraud, the company informed the police. Cyber Police Sation in-charge Rajiv Tiwari said that all three bank accounts in which the money was transferred were frozen with immediate effect. Further investigation in the matter is underway, he said.

(With inputs from agencies)