Duo arrested for selling fake demand drafts

Cops recover drafts of several international banks, four mobiles and two pen drives from the accused

Duo arrested for selling fake demand drafts

Cops recover drafts of several international banks, four mobiles and two pen drives from the accused

A South African and an Indian were arrested on Saturday by the Crime Branch for allegedly making fake demand drafts and selling them to businessmen at discounted prices.

Officials from the Crime Branch (Unit VIII) acting on a tip-off nabbed Emmanuel Augustin, a resident of Johannesburg, and Ravinder Singh Harban Singh Vaccher, a resident of Mulund.

According to the police, they received a tip-off that two people were carrying demand drafts (DDs) of various international banks, which they suspected to be fake.

"On the information that Deepak Phatangare, senior police inspector of Unit VIII, received we set up a trap on Saturday near Sukh Sagar restaurant at Nehru Road in Vile Parle (East) and arrested the duo," said a police officer.

Cops reveal that when the duo were nabbed, they were carrying DDs of various banks including Bank of America, Burgan Bank, HSBC and many others. "We also found a photocopy of a demand draft of $9 million on his phone," added the officer.

They also recovered two pen drives and four mobiles from them. The investigating officer said, "The duo used to target people who were in need of DDs urgently. Singh would narrate a sob story to the victims that his friend was in urgent need of money and was willing to sell the DD at a discounted price. They would sell the DD at an attractive discount to the businessmen and later flee with the cash," said the police officer.

u00a0The police are now in the process of informing the various banks about the fake demand drafts.

"They are in police custody till December 20 and we are inquiring how they actually made the demand drafts," said the police officer.