Thane ‘Digital Arrest’ Scam: Three Nabbed for Defrauding Man of ₹3.04 Crore, Part of Funds Moved via Crypto
Thane cyber police have arrested three individuals for allegedly scamming a local resident out of ₹3.04 crore through an elaborate ‘digital arrest’ scheme, in which the accused impersonated government officials and threatened the victim with fabricated legal charges.
The suspects—Kishore Bansilal Jain (63), chairman of a Dadar-based cooperative society; Mahesh Pavan Kothari (36), a garment trader from Santacruz; and Dhaval Santosh Bhalerao (26), a cosmetics businessman from Bhandup—were taken into custody on June 19.
Investigations uncovered that ₹82.46 lakh from the defrauded amount had been converted into cryptocurrency and routed overseas. The funds were laundered through Tether (USDT), a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, frequently used for fast and semi-anonymous international transfers—making it a popular tool in online frauds.
According to the FIR filed at Thane police station, the scam began when the victim received a call from someone posing as a courier company representative, claiming a package sent in his name had been seized. The caller alleged that the parcel contained a laptop, 140 grams of drugs, a Thai passport, multiple debit cards, and clothing.
The fraud escalated when the victim was contacted via WhatsApp video call by another individual pretending to be a CBI officer, further intensifying the pressure and manipulation.
The scammers convinced the victim that he was under a “digital arrest” and coerced him into transferring funds from his State Bank of India and Bank of India accounts under the pretext of “verification.”
“They presented forged documents and applied intense psychological pressure to make the victim believe he was under criminal investigation,” said Senior Police Inspector Prakash Warke, who is leading the case.
The probe has uncovered that the fraud is part of a larger international racket employing sophisticated technology to target victims. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber) Parag Manere, the accused used multiple bank accounts to layer and obscure the money trail before converting the stolen funds into cryptocurrency for cross-border transfers.
