New Delhi: Former Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Gujral, son of former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral, has allegedly fallen victim to an online impersonation scam that resulted in a loss of ₹7.8 crore, police officials said on Thursday.
According to Delhi Police, fraudsters created an account on a messaging platform using Gujral’s display picture and posed as him to deceive employees handling financial operations in his company. The scam reportedly took place between June 12 and June 16.
Investigators said the impersonators sent messages to a company employee who had been authorised to manage financial transactions. The messages instructed the employee to transfer funds through Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) for what appeared to be urgent business-related requirements.
Believing the requests were genuine, the employee carried out four separate RTGS transactions over four days, transferring a total of ₹7.8 crore to bank accounts provided by the fraudsters.
The fraud came to light on June 16 when Gujral’s daughter noticed the transactions and sought clarification from her father. Gujral reportedly denied issuing any such instructions and said he had no knowledge of the transfers, prompting the family and company officials to realise they had been targeted by scammers.
Following the complaint, an e-FIR was registered with Delhi Police on Tuesday. Officials launched an investigation and acted swiftly to track the movement of funds.
Police said they have successfully frozen nearly ₹4 crore by placing a lien on multiple bank accounts linked to the fraud. Efforts are underway to trace the remaining money and identify those involved in the scam.
Investigators are examining digital evidence and following the financial trail to determine how the fraud was executed and whether a larger network was involved.
