Karnataka: Monk duped of Rs 1.73 crore by US woman posing as Army staffer

According to the Karwar cyber crime police, the monk alleged that he had befriended the woman on Facebook. The woman introduced herself as Roland Michelle, an employee of the US Army, and told Kedup that she would transfer $2.5 million dollars to him for social work in India.

A Buddhist monk from Tibetan Colony in Mundgod, Uttara Kannada district was duped online by a US woman claiming to be a US army staffer for Rs 1.73 crore.

Karma Kedup (74), the victim, has lodged a complaint at Mundgod police station about the cheating. Since the money involved is more than Rs 1 crore, police have handed over the case to the Criminal Investigation Department.

According to the Karwar cyber crime police, the monk alleged that he had befriended the woman on Facebook. The woman introduced herself as Roland Michelle, an employee of the US Army, and told Kedup that she would transfer $2.5 million dollars to him for social work in India. Michelle had also sent an identity proof to the monk showing her as a US Army staffer.

“The woman introduced herself as Roland Michelle and after a few days messaged Karma Kedup, saying one of her friends was visiting India to hand over the money. She also demanded that the monk send money to clear customs,” a senior police officer from the cyber crime department told Indianexpress.com.

“Since February, the monk deposited money to various bank accounts in which the woman had told him to do. The monk deposited around Rs 15 lakh from his earnings and he borrowed the remaining money from various monks,” he said.

Kedup realised that he was duped only after there was no response from Michelle for several days. Mundgod is one of Tibetan settlements in India, apart from Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh and Bylakuppe in Karnataka.

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