Lured by the plan to make easy money, a 42-year-old government employee lost Rs 5 lakh to fraudsters and has approached the police with a plea to recover the sum.
The man was offered a swap of Rs 1 crore in Rs 500 denominations for Rs 30 lakh in Rs 2,000 denominations.
Habib Ur Rehman — a resident of Kolar district — stated in his police complaint that he went to Chennai five months ago with his friend Saab Jaan to buy some fancy items for Jaan's stores.
Rehman met Ismail and Aslam — aged about 65 to 70 — who told him that they have some money belonging to former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa. They had Rs 500 notes but needed Rs 2000, the duo told Rehman.
They offered Rs 1 crore in Rs 500 notes in exchange of Rs 30 lakh in Rs 2,000. This excited Rehman, who told the two men that he did not have the money. The men asked him to give an initial payment and repay the rest in instalments.
Returning to the city, Rehman could only muster Rs 5 lakh, but Ismail said Rehman could hand over the money and collect Rs 1 crore, and could give signed blank cheques for the remaining sum.
On February 5, Ismail sent Salim and Arif to meet Rehman near Gopalan Mall on Old Madras Road, where the duo collected Rs 5 lakh from Rehman and left the place, saying they would be back with Rs 1 crore, which they had kept in a car. But, as expected, the men did not return.
A panicked Rehman contacted Ismail, who said Salim and Arif hightailed mistaking some men for policemen. Ismail assured to return Rehman’s money but did not respond after that.
An investigating officer from the Baiyappanahalli police station said they have taken up the case and have some clues on the miscreants, who will be arrested at the earliest.