4 held for duping people claiming to convert black paper into dollars | Mumbai News

Mumbai: The Crime Branch of the city police has busted a fraudulent foreign exchange racket and arrested four men for duping people by claiming to convert black paper into US dollars. For these US dollars, they made people pay them rupees, at a much lesser rate than the prevailing forex rate.. The accused deceived people by using black paper over which they poured some chemical solution and claimed that the black paper would then resemble a genuine US currency dollar bill. The four persons — Afzal Syed (44), Rais Syed (46), Adil Khan (40), and Abidur Shah (25) — were arrested from a hotel in Mankhurd, from where they were operating the racket. The modus operandi was to lure people into believing they could exchange Indian rupees for a larger amount of US dollars. During the demonstration, they dipped a few genuine but black-coated US dollar bills into a chemical solution, misleading people into thinking that entire bundles of black paper were genuine dollars.On July 7, the complainants were tricked into handing over Rs 30,000, after which the accused fled without delivering any US currency. The people who had paid rupees approached Mankhurd police station, and a case was registered. The investigation was later handed over to the Crime Branch.The investigation revealed that the accused had previously duped multiple people in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, and other parts of the state, using similar tactics. The amount involved in the ongoing fraud operation is currently estimated at Rs 24.7 lakh.Police have seized 42 dollar-sized black paper bundles wrapped in plastic, two genuine $1 US bills, chemical substances stored in six aluminium bottles (ranging from 500 ml to 5 litres), allegedly used in the dollar-washing trick, six mobile phones belonging to the accused, and Rs 30,400.The arrested accused were presented before the Chief Judicial Magistrate at the 37th Court, Esplanade which has remanded the accused in police custody. Investigators confirmed that Afzal Ali Syed, one of the main accused, has a prior criminal case registered under Section 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) at Nagpada police station. Mumbai: The Crime Branch of the city police has busted a fraudulent foreign exchange racket and arrested four men for duping people by claiming to convert black paper into US dollars. For these US dollars, they made people pay them rupees, at a much lesser rate than the prevailing forex rate.. The accused deceived people by using black paper over which they poured some chemical solution and claimed that the black paper would then resemble a genuine US currency dollar bill. The four persons — Afzal Syed (44), Rais Syed (46), Adil Khan (40), and Abidur Shah (25) — were arrested from a hotel in Mankhurd, from where they were operating the racket. The modus operandi was to lure people into believing they could exchange Indian rupees for a larger amount of US dollars. During the demonstration, they dipped a few genuine but black-coated US dollar bills into a chemical solution, misleading people into thinking that entire bundles of black paper were genuine dollars.On July 7, the complainants were tricked into handing over Rs 30,000, after which the accused fled without delivering any US currency. The people who had paid rupees approached Mankhurd police station, and a case was registered. The investigation was later handed over to the Crime Branch.The investigation revealed that the accused had previously duped multiple people in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, and other parts of the state, using similar tactics. The amount involved in the ongoing fraud operation is currently estimated at Rs 24.7 lakh.Police have seized 42 dollar-sized black paper bundles wrapped in plastic, two genuine $1 US bills, chemical substances stored in six aluminium bottles (ranging from 500 ml to 5 litres), allegedly used in the dollar-washing trick, six mobile phones belonging to the accused, and Rs 30,400.The arrested accused were presented before the Chief Judicial Magistrate at the 37th Court, Esplanade which has remanded the accused in police custody. Investigators confirmed that Afzal Ali Syed, one of the main accused, has a prior criminal case registered under Section 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) at Nagpada police station.