An 81-year-old businessman lost almost Rs 15.45 crore after some men posed as CBI and RBI officers to the Belagavi man. The victim has been identified as Ajit Gopalkrishna and had been conned for almost six weeks.

The story starts on February 5, 2026, when Saraf received a phone call from a man identifying himself as K Siva Subramanyam, an officer with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The caller delivered a terrifying ultimatum: Saraf was allegedly implicated in a major money laundering scandal involving Naresh Goyal (of Jet Airways fame). To make the threat believable, the scammers sent fake copies of complaints from both the CBI and the RBI Vigilance Cell.

Claiming to be conducting a "secret investigation," the con artists had put Saraf under "digital arrest." They forbade him from leaving his room or talking to his family, and they insisted that he remain on a constant video call. A second accomplice joined the calls to demand a thorough audit of the businessman's fortune under the guise of RBI official George Mathew.

Saraf withdrew from his social and familial life, paralysed by dread and the prospect of public humiliation. According to the police, he was isolated from his own family and kept confined to his room for days at a time.

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After this, the fraudster coerced Saraf into liquidating his entire portfolio. He was forced to empty his fixed deposits. They told him to sell off extensive stock market investments held in Motilal Oswal. The fraudsters also made him transfer all available funds into "secure" accounts provided by the criminals for "verification."

The scam only collapsed when Saraf’s son arrived home for the Ugadi holidays. Noticing his father’s strange behavior and prolonged isolation, he eventually uncovered the transfers. By then, over Rs 15.4 crore had vanished.

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A case has been officially registered with the Belagavi Cyber, Economic, and Narcotics (CEN) Cell. Given the massive scale of the fraud, the investigation is being transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to trace the international and domestic money trails.