Cardiologist cheated of Rs 23 lakh by promising awards, chance to speak at `UN summit’

A city-based cardiologist was allegedly duped of Rs 23 lakh by a woman who promised to give him an opportunity to make presentations at international summits and also arrange awards for him, police said on Saturday.

While a case was registered at Vartak Nagar police station here under Indian Penal Code section 420 (cheating), no arrest has been made yet, said an official. As per the 41-year-old complainant, he got to know the woman through Facebook sometime in 2022.

She claimed that she was the niece of a Union minister, and worked in the ”public relations department” of the Prime Minister’s Office.

She offered to get a job for the complainant’s brother in the PMO, he told police. Further, she also offered to arrange opportunities for the complainant himself to make presentations at a business event and a ”United Nations summit”.

He would be speaking on ”healthy mindset” at the UN event which would be attended by the prime ministers and top industrialists, the woman told him.

She also promised to arrange awards for him for excellence in the field of cardiology and get a mention of his name in a prestigious business magazine, the complainant told police.

For all this, she asked him to pay several lakhs of rupees from time to time under various pretexts. Eventually, when none of the promised things materialised, the complainant realised that he had been taken for a ride. Probe is on, the official said.