The Unraveling Of A Rice Pulling Scamster Cop

 

        Prashant, who was rich and involved in the clothing business, was a member of some of the prestigious clubs of the city, to promote his business one evening at his club a man in a suit came up to him and said hello. When Prashant said, 'I don't know who you are', he said, 'My name is Ramakrishnan, I am a scientist and businessman living in Mumbai, doing export business' and gave his visiting card. In visiting card it was printed as  he was a consultant of the American space agency NASA, Japan, France, and British space agencies. 'What is your business?' Prashant asked, 'If you give time, I will visit your office and will explain you, said Ramakrishnan, Prashant agreed and told  him to visit his office. 

    The next day, Ramakrishnan came to Prashant's office in a BMW car. There were white Boleros in front and behind it, and four men in black safari suits got out of their jeeps even as the car stopped, opened the car door and surrounded Ramakrishnan after he got out. They escorted Ramakrishnan to Prashant's office with walki talki phone in hand to Prashanth's office and spoke to Prashanth, you may be thinking why I have so much security. I worked as a scientist in NASA in America and later became a consultant to space agencies of various countries. All of them require a special type of molybdenum-iridium-radium metal alloy element for making satellites. It costs millions of dollars. I have such an element. That's why I have so much security' Ramakrishnan said and opened his briefcase. He took out a container wrapped in a red velvet bag and pointed the element it was like a bronze cup and was battered. Ramakrishnan said, in our farm in Tamil Nadu, this ancient gem was buried in the ground along with three other gems and came out during ploughing. It is radioactive because it has been struck twice by lightning. The same metal mixture is used in satellites He gave that ball to Prashanth to see that it is expensive because of its use. A minute later he retrieved it and secured it in his briefcase. Ramakrishnan said that I am getting demand for this metal from all over the world and showed Prashanth three letters in his hand. A letter on NASA letter head , 'Dear Ramakrishnan, We are eager to purchase the metal you have.' The same was written in letters from countries like France, England, Japan, etc. 'I certainly intend to sell it to the highest bidder. Do you know how much it might cost?' Ramakrishnan asked Prashanth, when Prashanth did not know, it would cost at least 10 million dollars said Ramakrishnan. 80 crore rupees at today's exchange rate. That's why it needs security 24 hours a day. Instead of keeping it in the bank locker, I made a big locker in my house and kept it. I will sell this first and then the rest of the radioactive material I have, said Ramakrishnan.

    “What's the matter with me?' When Prashant asked, Ramakrishnan says 'I have encountered a problem. Although NASA agreed to buy it for 10 million dollars, They are saying that 10% bribe should be given before placing the order. I don't mind giving it. However, my money is locked in a Swiss bank in Geneva for some reason. Now I have only Rs 2 crore, so I need Rs 6 crore. So Prashant said sell it to other countries who don't ask for bribe. Ramakrishnan replies 'their price is half of America's. I can't get it. If you agree to pay Rs.6 crores, you will get 10% of the Rs.80 crores i.e. Rs.8 crores from the American company as a partner. No payment means one crore rupees. 7 crores will be returned with interest. I will sign this agreement on the bond paper,' he said, 'If I agree, will you return my money?' Prashant asked,  'If you give me a loan, I will pay it back in three months. If you come as a partner, I will give you 10 percent of all my future sales. Look here, I have three more such gems,' he said, showing a photo of them on his latest iPhone.

    Prashant took time to decide. Meanwhile, Ramakrishnan received a call on his mobile. He received the call and said, 'In two to three days I will transfer one million dollars to your Swiss bank account, please do not give this order to anyone else'. Then addressing Prashanth, "Haven't you seen, if you don't pay within three days, the American order will be cancelled." The delivery time for me is one week, after which they pay me. There is a possibility that your money will be returned within four weeks, decide soon, otherwise we will go to other party,' urged Ramakrishnan. Prashant said goodbye to him saying 'give me time till evening' and Prashant  contacted his cousin Ritvik and told him what had happened. Ritvik said that he is ready to invest Rs 5 crore. Both of them met Ramakrishnan in a five-star hotel the same evening and said that they would pay eight crore rupees together. Then Ramakrishnan said that I will make you a partner and return you a total of ten crore rupees. The next day they both gave eight crore rupees, in the same hotel, and after receiving the money, Ramakrishnan prepared and signed an agreement making both of them partners in his company.

    Ramakrishnan told them that he would leave for America that  night and told him that he would contact him after a month. However, when Ramakrishnan did not make contact, Prashant and Ritwik tried to contact him. His phone was switched off. No matter how hard they tried, when he did not get in touch, they both realized that they had been cheated and went to the police station to complain. Have you also fallen victim to the rice pulling scam? Quoting that, the police registered the case and checked the CCTV footage of Prashanth's office and the five-star hotel. Ramakrishnan is not the person who trapped you, but Nataraja, a dismissed police constable who has been released from jail in several fraud cases, has cheated you. PSI said that those who acted as his bodyguards were retired police personnel. Investigation revealed that the vehicles used by Nataraja to go to Prashanth's office were on hire. When Nataraj was arrested in Delhi within two days, he had bought a new Audi car costing Rs 2 crore. Apart from this, cash of Rs.1.5 crore was also seized from him. The rest of the accused were arrested and ten lakhs of rupees were extorted from them. A charge sheet has been filed against all. All are in jail as undertrials.(1)

    Investment scams are schemes that use false or misleading information to trick people into investing money into a fraudulent or non-existent business opportunity. These scams often promise high returns for little to no risk, and may involve convincing people to invest in a fake company or a non-existent investment opportunity. They can be perpetrated through various means, including online ads, social media, or unsolicited phone calls or emails. Victims of investment scams may lose their life savings or experience other financial and emotional hardships.

Reference

1] Dr.D.V Guruprasad, 2023 September 24, “Rice Pulling Emba Vanchane”, A Kshana, Vijayavani, Bengaluru, Page No-II