DAILY get-togethers in South Delhi’s upmarket Gulmohar Park, strolls in the colony park, adda with close friends and visits to the club — none of these over the past six weeks felt unusual for family, friends and neighbours of 78-year old retired banker Naresh Malhotra. But it was in this period when he visited a branch of three banks where he held an account to transfer a total of Rs 22.92 crore in 21 transactions to 16 different bank accounts.The managers of the bank branches from where he transferred such large funds too didn’t suspect any foul play — in one bank branch, he would have a cup of tea while money was being moved out. But Malhotra was under “digital arrest”, taking permission from the scammers who claimed to be officers from the Enforcement Directorate and Mumbai Police, for withdrawing small amounts to make monthly salary payments to his staff.“It is as if I was possessed and had lost all my senses; my thinking process was completely taken over by the scammers,” Malhotra told The Indian Express.It took six weeks for the retired banker to muster enough courage to report the disappearance of Rs 22.92 crore. He filed a complaint on September 19, and an FIR was registered the same day, and the task of unravelling the befuddling money trail was cut out for Delhi Police.From just 21 transactions in 16 bank branches, Malhotra’s money was splintered in seven layers via 4,236 transactions (till date). According to Rajneesh Gupta, Joint Commissioner of the IFSO (Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations) Branch of the Delhi Police, such “layering” of stolen funds in a “digital arrest’’ case is not uncommon. “We have seen money move in as many as 20 layers. The golden hour of immediately reporting the losses was lost in the case. This makes nabbing the scammers and freezing the funds difficult,” he said. The scammers issued such ‘RBI certificates’ to Naresh Malhotra, 78.Between August 4 and September 4, Malhotra made a total of 21 visits to three bank branches where he held accounts, and made 21 RTGS transfers to 16 bank accounts, deposited cheques totalling Rs 22.92 crore in these. Among the banks where Malhotra’s money was moved were branches of Yes Bank, Indusind Bank; ICICI Bank, Union Bank and Axis Bank, in states across the country — from Uttarakhand in the north and West Bengal in east to Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in south. Of the 4,236 transactions till date, not a single was made to a bank in New Delhi.Malhotra has spent almost five decades in senior positions with government and private banks, having finally retired in 2020. The three bank branches were close to his home. The Central Bank branch in the local colony market just five minutes by walk, and the other two branches of HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, 10 minutes by car. But bank managers couldn’t really sense this was under duress and coercion, and probably accounted for a major portion of Malhotra’s life investments and savings.Story continues below this adAccording to Joint Commissioner Gupta, Rs 2.67 crore of Malhotra’s funds have been frozen in various bank accounts till date. “But since this is only a portion of the stolen funds, we are far from satisfied, we have miles to go,” he said.Three days after the FIR was filed on September 19, Malhotra recalled the traumatic experience beginning August 1 when he was told by a random caller that his identity had been used for terror-funding and that he could only be “bailed out” by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Supreme Court once funds were dispatched as surety, which would be returned to him in due course.Now surrounded by family and friends, Malhotra had kept them all in the dark all these days. “All through these six weeks, even my petty withdrawals for daily expenses and staff salary and so on had to be approved by the scammers… They had taken over my life…,” he said.With most of his savings securely invested in a HDFC demat account, it took about two days for funds to be routed to his three bank accounts and then via RTGS in 21 tranches to 16 other bank accounts. After having defrauded him of Rs 22.92 crore, the scammers demanded another Rs 5 crore on September 19, and that is when Malhotra said something changed.Story continues below this adThe fraudsters demanded Rs 5 crore be transferred to the account of a private company in West Bengal. “I told them I will not do a third party transfer. I put my foot down and said I would go to the Registrar of the Supreme Court and deposit Rs 5 crore but not to a private company. They threatened me with immediate arrest. I said arrest me. On my belligerence, they disconnected the phone and that was it…,” he said.As mentioned in the FIR, Malhotra had withdrawn Rs 9.68 crore from the Central Bank, Rs 8.34 crore from the HDFC Bank and Rs 4.90 from the Kotak Mahindra Bank. While managers of two banks said they were unaware of the “digital arrest” incident involving one of their clients, the manager of the third bank recalled how Malhotra was a frequent visitor to their branch. “There was was no question of their staff raising a red flag over his hefty transfers since he came himself and showed no sign of anxiety. He even sat, spoke and occasionally had a cup of tea when he made these very transfers,” said the manager.