Dimapur police arrested one Rev. Timothy Joshi (Joshua alias) pastor of New Life Church Ministry, Khantibhita (Darjeeling), West Bengal and brought him to Dimapur on the basis of a fraud complaint amounting to the tune of Rs 3.5 crore filed by a Naga woman.
As per the complainant, DCP (Crime) & PRO Dimapur police said that in the 2019 one of her friend introduced Rev. Timothy Joshi to her for some assistance in his Church ministry and they got acquainted.
Thereafter, Rev Timothy made a business proposal for purchase of a mystery box found by a Kolkata farmer Rakesh Singh in his farmland. Rev. PRO said that Timothy convinced the victim that he got a divine revelation from God that the “Mystery Box” would bring big fortune and good luck.
The accused told the victim that the fortune box was on offer for Rs. 4 crore, while also mentioning that the actual worth was estimated at Rs. 22 crore.
Later, PRO said that the victim was introduced to one Manish Awasti, posing as managing director RM Trading Company, who promised to buy the “Mystery Box” for Rs.22 crore on the condition that victim should first invest in the box by making a payment of Rs. 4 crore. Accordingly, the victim deposited Rs. 3.5 crore to various accounts of the scammers in a series of bank transfers from 2019-2020.
The victim was then invited to Kolkata and was put up in 5 Star Hotel and the scammers posing as high-profile businessmen with bodyguards came in SUVs and met her.
PRO said that the scammers and victim got into two cars and went to an area near Bangladesh border for collection of the so called “Mystery Box” and came back.
The car with victim first reached the hotel and while waiting for car with the consignment, Rev Timothy came and reported to the victim that the police got the information and started chasing the car to seize the “Mystery Box”.
He narrated that though he managed to escape and reached the hotel, the car with the box and Bangladeshi occupants ran away due to the fear of police.
PRO said that Rev. Timothy even acted to have “fainted” in front of the victim while narrating the incident. The scammers further pressed the victim for more payment of Rs. one crore to recover the “Mystery Box”. However, the victim expressed her inability to pay the money.
Realizing that all was not well with the deal, PRO said that the victim returned home dejected and scammed by Timothy and his cohorts. After reaching Nagaland, she asked the scammers to refund the money, but they avoided her by switching off all their mobile phones and changing their contact numbers and finally disappeared.
Accordingly, FIR was filed and East Police Station team investigated the case relying on digital communication evidences and traced the location of the accused to Khantibhita (Darjeeling) from where he was arrested and produced before Dimapur Court.
PRO said that the modus operandi of the scam was that Rev. Timothy took advantage of his status as a respectable Christian priest and lured gullible believers into various types of frauds and scams masterminded by him.
Interestingly, PRO said that Timothy’s father was also a reverend and his brothers were also actively involved in the church ministry. It was also learnt that he and his brothers had been involved in many scams such as land deals, real estate, fake gold bars etc. where victims were mostly from North Eastern state and had been duped and defrauded.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the “Mystery Box” was nothing but an empty box which was made solely to deceive the victim, PRO said.
Police, therefore, cautioned the public to be aware of the prevalence of such scams and take utmost precaution in any kind of business deals and investments which promises huge returns and stay guarded from such fraudsters/conman.