Chandigarh doctor tricked into buying fake gold, loses Rs 20 lakh

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, November 18

The police have registered a case after a city resident was allegedly duped of Rs 20 lakh. The complainant, Dr Manoj Gupta, who runs a nursing home at Sector 21 here, said three persons, including a woman, were involved in the fraud.

Modus operandi

• Three suspects visited Dr Manoj Gupta’s clinic in Sector 21
• Offered to pay in gold coins, which they ‘found in Baddi’
• Gave five genuine coins to doctor; latter checked with goldsmith
• Suspects then asked for Rs 40 lakh in exchange for 4 kg of gold coins
• Victim agreed to buy half for Rs 20 lakh, only to find the coins fake

He alleged an individual, who identified himself as Ramesh, visited his clinic on November 3 for consultation. He said, “I advised him a revision surgery for his ailment. The suspect claimed he was a labourer and belonged to a poor family. He offered to pay for the treatment in gold coins that he claimed his family had unearthed during an excavation in Baddi.”

Gupta said the man gave him five coins on two counts that came off as genuine after checking with a goldsmith. He said the suspect later asked him to provide him Rs 40 lakh in exchange for a bag full of gold coins weighing around 4 kg.

Dr Gupta said, “I fell into the trap and agreed. I delivered Rs 20 lakh to him in Mullanpur and collected the coins. Later, during a purity test, the coins turned out to be fake and made of copper and zinc.”

Dr Gupta claimed the individuals were regular offenders as they had earlier duped a doctor couple of Rs 40 lakh in a similar manner in February last year.

Inspector Rupesh Chaudhary, SHO, Sector 5 police station, said they had registered a case and started investigating the matter.

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