Three people dupe lady posing representatives of two well-known insurance companies.
The Goregaon police have registered a case of cheating where a 60-year-old woman was duped of Rs 23.5 lakhs by three persons who claimed to be representatives of two well-known insurance companies and offered the victim a fake insurance policy which later turned out to be a pension plan.
According to the police, the complainant is a senior assistant manager working with Bharat Petroleum. In 2016, the victim had to bear expenses behind the medication of her old aged parents and for the same, she was facing monetary crisis. In April 2016, the complainant had got a call from a person who introduced himself as Vikas Chauhan, a representative from a reputed insurance firm and claimed to offer financial aid to people who opted for an insurance policy from his firm.
The complainant told Chauhan about her bed ridden parents and their medical condition and also inquired about any Mediclaim policy for them if there was any.
“Chauhan told the woman that after getting the Mediclaim policy, she would be able to get loans from bank easily. The complainant then gave cheques to Chauhan from her savings account as a premium for her policy. Chauhan claimed that the policy benefits shall be obtained after one year and since the amount of insurance was big, the victim had to pay equivalent amount of tax so if she wanted to get tax benefits, she had to take another insurance from a different agency,” said a police officer from Goregaon police station.
The victim took up the offer and then paid the demanded money but no valid document about her policy was shown to her. When she checked the policy number, she discovered that both the policies which she had got were actually pension plans and the her signature was forged for the pension scheme instead of insurance policy.
Chauhan when contacted to give an explanation, said that he was terminated from the firm where he was working and the policy files were being looked by another executive Devika. In December 2016, Devika informed the victim that she was duped and her policy documents were being scrutinized by the insurance fraud cell of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) and they are investigating the matter.
“Devika had assured that the money shall be refunded soon and also the benefits of the policy will be extended for her as compensation but the victim had to pay some amount to her. On frequent occasions, Devika would ask for more money and in total the victim had offered her Rs 19.69 lakhs from her savings account.
When the victim suspected about Devika, she realised that she was duped again after which she lodged a complaint. We have registered a case under section 120b, 170, 34, 419, 420, 464 and 465 of the Indian Penal Code. We are investigating the matter and are taking strict action against all the accused involved,” the officer added.