Ailing Bhubaneswar Lady Doc’s Driver Held For Looting Rs 10L From Her Account Using PhonePe App

The Cyber Police station in Bhubaneswar arrested a man from Patia on charges of fraudulently transferring over Rs 9 lakh from the account of his employer by installing UPI(PhonePe) on the latter’s mobile phone.

The accused, Manoj Mahana, who is a driver by profession, had swindled Rs 9.95 lakh from the bank account of his employer, a 71-year-old lady doctor in Bhubaneswar.

Mahana was arrested following the filing of a complaint by the victim’s brother Dr V Pattnaik on March 3, 2022. The complainant alleged that his sister was admitted to a private hospital at Chandrasekharpur area for treatment early this year.

When she was undergoing treatment, some unknown miscreant fraudulently transferred the money from her account. The complainant detected the fraud after updating the bank passbook of his ailing sister. During preliminary investigation, police found that the victim’s driver had committed the crime by installing PhonePe on her mobile phone without her knowledge. Later, the accused transferred the money to the accounts of his wife and mother on different occasions.

“During the treatment of the victim, the accused had downloaded the UPI and transferred the money to his wife and mother’s account in different phases since November last year. The victim’s brother came across the fraud in January this year,” said a senior police official.

The police official said the accused took advantage of her sickness in gaining access to her ATM card and mobile phone to commit the fraud. The accused was arrested from Patia area today.

Police have seized two mobile phones, three SIM cards and three ATM cards from the possession of the accused. Further investigation in connection with the case is underway, police said.