Former MP falls victim to cyber fraud – How CFO Naresh Gujral was duped by fraudsters into transferring ₹7.8 crore | Today’s news
Former Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Gujral is making headlines as he has become a victim of cyber fraud. Cyber fraudsters allegedly defrauded a former member of parliament from ₹7.8 million. The fraudsters used the messaging app to run their scheme and dupe the company’s CFO. Posing as the 78-year-old son of the late 12th Prime Minister of India IK Gujral, the fraudsters cleverly duped one of his employees, PTI reported.
Fraudsters allegedly created an account on the online messaging platform using a former MP’s picture to trick their staff, according to a police statement on Thursday. Between June 12 and 16, they sent messages instructing one of his employees to transfer funds through Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) to multiple bank accounts. The fraudsters made it appear that the transaction was for urgent business purposes by targeting an employee to whom Naresh Gujral had provided financial access.
An employee blindsided by the scheme followed the instructions, believing them to be legitimate. The employee made four separate RTGS transactions over four days that resulted in a loss ₹7.8 million, the police informed PTI.
Naresh Gujral’s daughter comes to know about the suspicious transactions
Finally, when Naresh Gujrala’s daughter Diksha noticed suspicious transactions from the company’s account, she verified the situation with her father and uncovered the fraud. It was on June 16 that Diksha Gujral came to know about the fraud after learning that he had never given any instructions to transfer money to any account.
She contacted the cybercrime helpline and helped authorities freeze a large portion of the stolen funds. On the same day, Naresh Gujral filed a police complaint in this matter.
“On the complaint of Naresh Gujral, an FIR was registered on 16/06/2026. Immediate further action was taken and ₹4.28 crore out of the total defrauded amount ₹7.68 crore was marked as lien/possession in various banks. Efforts are on to nab those involved in the scam,” PTI quoted a senior police officer as saying.
According to investigators, the money was first routed to four bank accounts in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Around ₹1 million and ₹2 million crowns were transferred to each of these accounts. In an apparent attempt to conceal the money trail, the funds were subsequently split into around 30 to 40 accounts before being moved through several other mule accounts.
According to the report, cyber investigators are tracking the movement of funds and identifying the recipients of the transactions. Investigations are underway to trace the remaining funds and arrest those involved in the cyber fraud.
“My company and our CFO were victims of fraud. I was and am out of town. But please note that as we quickly reported the crime to the cyber crime branch, they helped us recover more than 70 percent of the amount and they hope to recover more,” Gujral told PTI in an interview.
