Mumbai: A 78-year-old man, PM Mathai (name changed), from Mulund (West) was kept under “digital arrest” for two months, during which fraudsters compelled him to sell his flat for Rs 1.16 crore, though its actual market value was over Rs 2.5 crore, said police.The scamsters warned Mathai not to inform anyone and threatened him with arrest and death, claiming his name surfaced in a money laundering case involving Jet Airways Naresh Goyal, which is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate. Realising he was duped, Mathai approached the East Region Cyber police and filed an FIR against unknown persons for impersonating officers from CBI, Cyber, ED, the Telecom department, RBI and others. One of the five letters, including the arrest warrant that he received on his WhatsApp, showed signatures and a stamp of retired ACP Daya Nayak, who was shown as DCP-cyber probing his case, and assistant director Niraj Kumar.The threat calls started on Dec 26 when Mathai, who was at home, received a WhatsApp call from an unknown mobile number. The caller identified himself as CBI police Vijay Khanna. “The person claimed my name came up in a money laundering case committed by Jet Airways’s Naresh Goyal. He said an account has been been opened in my name in a nationalised bank and money laundering of about Rs 2 crore has been committed. Khanna told me I will be arrested,” said Mathai in the FIR.Mathai and his wife kept the matter hidden from their two daughters after the fraudsters threatened to kill both of them if they did not transfer money for verification purpose.Mathai finally informed his friend Prakash Padikkal, a member of Hillside Residents’ Welfare Association (HIRWA), on Wednesday after the matter worsened. “Mathai’s daughters, who work abroad, were unaware of the fraud or that he had lost his flat after being forced to sell it for half the market price. He decided to inform me only this week, when he started fearing for his family members’ life,” Padikkal told TOI.The elderly couple and their daughters, who flew down to the city from abroad, are still worried that they will be harmed even though a police complaint has been registered.The East Region cyber police have managed to freeze a few bank accounts and blocked around Rs 17 lakh. “The team has got in touch with the bank’s nodal officers to freeze all the accounts to which the money was transferred. Meanwhile, the team is tracking the person involved in the case,” said the cyber officer.State Cyber Cell data revealed digital arrest fraud victims in Maharashtra have lost Rs 313 crore in 2025, while police have managed to save Rs 19 crore. DIG (State-Cyber) Sanjay Shintre said, “No real officer will ever ask for money or threaten you on a video call. Your silence helps the criminal — your action protects others.” Former Mumbai Police Commissioner D Sivanandhan said advisories from the RBI and govt are not heeded by victims of advanced age.
