New Delhi: Former Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Gujral, son of former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral, has reportedly become the victim of a major cyber fraud in Delhi, with scammers allegedly siphoning off ₹7.8 crore by impersonating him on WhatsApp.
According to officials, the fraudsters created a fake WhatsApp account using Gujral’s photograph as the display picture and targeted the financial team of his company. Posing as Gujral, they allegedly sent instructions to a trusted employee, directing him to transfer funds through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) to specified bank accounts.
The fraud came to light on June 16 when the employee informed Gujral’s daughter, Diksha Gujral, about the transaction. Suspecting something was amiss, she contacted her father, who denied issuing any such instructions and said he had no knowledge of the transfer.
The family subsequently realised that cyber criminals had impersonated Gujral and used the fake profile to deceive company staff into authorising the payment.
Sources said the transferred amount was distributed across multiple accounts. However, after the fraud was reported, the Delhi Police cyber cell acted swiftly and managed to freeze nearly ₹4 crore before it could be withdrawn.
Gujral said a significant portion of the funds was secured in time due to prompt intervention by law enforcement and banking authorities. He added that the bank had contacted the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to verify the transaction before processing it. Believing the instructions had come directly from Gujral, the CFO reportedly approved the transfer.
Police have launched an investigation to trace the accused and recover the remaining amount. Authorities are also examining the bank accounts used in the alleged fraud and the methods employed by the cyber criminals.
